Ailurophile
by Ultoris
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, Tigress is abducted by the villain Tai Lung. Will she be able to hold off his assailment or will she circum to the so-called demon and discover that there is more to the man than she had ever realized? Mature, iniquitous themes. (Slow updates)
1. Chapter 1

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: Kung Fu Panda is owned by DreamWorks but you probably knew that. Please read and review but try not to be harsh I'm new to this. Thanks!_

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**It all goes wrong**

The evening was late in Hong Kong. The port was completely barren; absolute silence reigned. The whole harbour was void of life. The one source of light was the moon's lunar glow reflecting beautifully on the waters of the sea. A pair radiant amber eyes stare down at their conquest.

She would never admit it out loud, but Tigress was beginning to feel the tension of this task weighing down on her.

A whole year had passed since the death of Tai Lung, and all of his alleged allies had seemingly broken apart, fleeing the valley.

Everyone believed it to be true, and allowed themselves allayment with the threat now finally gone... But then whispers arouse that Tai lung's contingent still existed, and that this legion was planning an attack. Eventually, these whispers reached the Valley. Master Shifu saw no other option; the rumours had to be confirmed. If they were true, then being proactive was the best option.

Leading Po and the rest of the Furious Five, Tigress had been sent to Hong Kong, where Master Shifu had been exhorted numerous times that that was where _the_ _late _Tai Lung's former allies had gathered in preparation. It could have only likely been some kind of plot for revenge, Shifu had spent much time pondering the rationality of it, but she personally thought it didn't matter. It honestly made no sense as to why they would plan an attack now. If Tai Lung was no more, what strength could they possibly have? Who would lead them? If they were planning an act of war without Tai Lung at the head, then she seriously doubted their ability... Though on the other hand she knew well enough to never judge a book by it's cover. They must have acquired some can of 'hidden element' which gave them an incentive to organise this. If they were going to attack then all that was important was protecting the valley.

She volunteered herself.

A gathering of the country's most fearsome warriors would surely turn China upside down. It was not just the valley, but this was the entire country under threat. For her, it brought about another opportunity to show Shifu that she was worthy of recognition and affection, and not a simple substitute to ease his own grievances. Just thinking about it left a bad taste in her mouth... It seemed that every opportunity she had at proving herself, the more it slipped from her fingers... Shifu's 'love'.

Tigress shook her head sharply. She discarded the miserable thoughts and forced all her focus on the task at hand. 'This time will be different.' But she had to maintain concentration. There was too much to lose, and letting her mind wonder would certainly end in making a mistake. It was time to stop China's most infamous criminals. If anyone could succeed in this, then she'd be the one to do it.

Crawling silently across the roof top of a tall boatshed, she neared the East Indiamen ship where her supposed enemy was hidden. Huáng hòu ān nī fù chóu was carved down the bow of the ship, which had large figure head above of a red dragon. She ignored it, and moved on.

So this was where Tai lung's former band had gathered. The ship creaked quietly as the waters rocked it with gentle waves. At the sight, one would have never known it was filled with dangerous criminals.

Looking to her right, she saw Viper and Monkey hidden in a nearbytree. She gave indication with her hand to both of them, giving them command to proceed onto the ship's deck. They gave her a thumbs up-well, just Monkey- then they moved forward. It was their job to remain unseen and look into the ship for confirmation that this was in fact a part of what used to be Tai Lung's followers.

To her left was Po, Crane, and Mantis, who she signalled to stay put for now. They would provide the backbone of their assault, being the most overwhelming of the masters- besides her, of course. They would be there to even the odds if things got out of hand. They gave her nods; except for Po, who pouted childishly at being told to stay back.

She looked back to the ship. Her eyes scanned the area for any crewmen on deck, and she saw that the coast was clear. She jumped from the roof. The wind rippled her fur, leaving a cool breeze as she descended in the ship's direction. She landed aboard soundlessly with grace only she could achieve. A pair of boars passing by were chatting incoherently to one another. She could pick up the stench of alcohol on their breath; in fact the strong smell was so overwhelming, it almost made her gag. But despite this, she easily snuck by them. She then followed to where Monkey and Viper stood on top of the roof of the ship cabin. With a leap, Tigress shot up, not making single noise. Walking between the two of them, she crouched down and looked into the cabin's window.

Most of the room wasn't visible because of the awkward angle the window was built on. She was able to make out a burly fellow standing in front of another equally built man. She could only see their lower halves. Their conversation seemed rather hushed at the moment, and the person speaking looked as if he was in some sort of protest: making hand gestures and moving around a lot. The other was simply motionless and speaking too quietly to be heard. Moving closer, she attempted to hear more clearly what the two of them were saying.

"Have ye' lost y'er mind!?" a roared a deep voice. Tigress ducked instinctively, hiding herself from view.

The ox's obviously foreign accent echoed in loud roars of anger and confusion, giving Tigress the impression that their discussion had suddenly gottened heated for some reason. It was a contrast from the formerly hushed tone they were using, and though they were unaware of the stowaways listening to their every word, they could all definitely feel the disturbing stain in the atmosphere- despite it not showing.

What they had been told had disturbed them greatly.

"Opposed to popular belief, I am perfectly sane, old friend," the stranger explained with irritation.

Dun could feel the burnished eyes of the beat coldly force upon him the vexation he- the individual felt, but in appearance, he displayed the upmost indifference.

He had known before even telling them of his departure that Dun would react this way. The old hand had always done as he was told without any complaints before, but this time his actions were unprecedented... or they were to his allies. Clearly they thought he was mad. But he did not expect them to understand, only to do as they were told. "When ya' called us 'ere, I coulda' guessed there'd be some sort o' delayin' to our attack... but now that we're all 'ere, you're gon' ta leave!" the ox shouted, confusion and betrayal seeping into his thick voice. He did not believe it! To him, it looked like he was running away... But he wouldn't voice that; it would probably end with him getting burnt.

The heavily armoured gorilla grunted in agreement. He shifted in his plate armor and gave the stranger a collected- although slight disbelieving- stare. "I was under the same impression… but you tell us that you are taking leave of China? Has the air in this foul town effected your thinking?"

The stranger glared at the two of them and spoke again. "What I said was that I wanted the scroll, and we all know what happened with that, now don't we?"

Eying him in suspicion, they did not look convinced. They knew why he was set out to the valley in the first place, and this change was just abberrant.

He had told them the reasons of his decision, yet it was still hard for them to understand. He was was very tired, and didn't want to explain it to them all over again. "I will NOT repeat myself. This isn't a discussion, it's a conclusion." he told them tightly. He didn't really blame them though. Their reactions _were_ justified, and in the end this was just another one his failures...

"...This isn't a sort of joke, is it?" Hong still wasn't getting the message.

He shook his head while chuckling humorlessly. "A joke? Re-think that for a moment. Tell me when in all the time you've know me have I ever made a joke, Hong?" Hong chose not answer.

He continued. "I think that I've explained enough-"

"And what about us? What are we supposed to do now?" a sultry soft voice spoke, cutting him off.

Looking to the left of him, he saw the Wu Sisters staring at him with pouted faces in a mocking attempt to look sad. He knew the only real reason the snow leopardesses were following him was because he provide them with a sufficient amusement, which was their description of inflicting pain upon innocents. Providing them with entertainment was not his job. They would have to find game elsewhere now...

He stared at them in consideration for a moment, then brushed them off without a care. "Do whatever you want, I don't care. I have called you all here to consummate our dispansion. I've informed you that I'm leaving China tonight, and what you do from here is your choice. I play no part in your affairs from this point." Then he decided to add, "You'll still be paid, so you needn't worry in that regard." He had decided what he was going to do for a while now. He had nothing to gain from staying in China, so he had to make sure no one would be causing trouble in his name. It was attention he had no need for.

Dun looked at him in disappointment. He obviously was not very happy. "So, that's it then… Y'er just callin' it off? We've gone an' organized all o' this here f'er nothin'?" The stranger sighed, but barely nodded to all of them. Dun had believed in him, and- like everyone else- had something to gain from destroying the valley, that mainly being 'heavy purses'. If their roles were reversed where he had nothing to gain, then Dun would have ended it too. Being an expert in strategy and warfare, he was very eager to commence with destroying the valley- especially after Shifu had humiliated him long ago, which wouldn't be brought up. Everyone knew how it upset him, and even more disappointing to him was that none of his soldier would ever see any action.

"Well I guess it was fun while it lasted," one of the Wu Sisters said, mocking sadness. The other two mimicked her sad expression over dramatically. If he were anyone else, he probably would have laughed at them. But this was serious business. Instead, the stranger rolled his eyes and began to speak again, unaware that their whole conversation was being listened too.

Tigress had her ear pressed against the window. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on listening harder. With Viper and Monkey doing the same, they had crouched down beside her. The three of them were leaning on the windowsill, completely silent and listening carefully on every word. The three of them were becoming more and more anxious to know just who this person was to have the power to call off their legion simply because he tells them to. He was likely a very dangerous man. Passing a concerned look to both Viper and Monkey, the three of them proceeded to listen in some more. They were oblivious to the new company behind them. Then a new voice made itself known.

"Alright, what we got?" a high pitched voice spoke loudly behind the three of them. Yelping, they turned quickly and saw Po grinning goofily at them with a guilty looking Mantis and Crane behind him.

Viper and Monkey both sighed in relief and annoyance, gritting her teeth irefully. Tigress looked at the three of them coldly. "Didn't I tell you to stay back? What are you doing here?" Tigress hissed.

Chuckling guiltily, Mantis looked up at Tigress and flinched at how angry she looked. "Sorry, but we couldn't stop him. He insisted," Mantis said, throwing is pincers exasperatedly. Crane simply shrugged and smiled nervously, going with the same excuse.

Turning her attention to Po, she narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here? You know the plan... Why don't you listen?" A lesson he had seemed to forget in moments like these.

Seeming to take in none of what she said, he waved her off. "I wanna find out who the bad guy is! If he's so great, then he won't mind takin' on the Dragon Warrior," Po proclaimed smugly.

Tigress face-palmed, her irritation swiftly growing. 'How can he be so damn cocky?' "Panda, your childish need for finding trouble could end up putting all of us in danger," she scolded.

Tigress could have gaped at the panda. Not so long ago, he had been the defination of humble and respectful. But as time went on, he had somewhat... allowed his station get to his head. Perhaps it wasn't disrespect, but the lack of knowing what it was to be respectful... she didn't know. What she did know was the he had been oddly overweening lately. She had come except that he was the true Dragon Warrior and found that she respected him back; she had even begun regarding him as.. a friend. But his behavior was out of character, and displayed nothing but vain stupidity. Yet even all this! Was all easy to brush off; she had simply ignored him, but that didn't mean she wasn't irritated. No, it absolutely infuriated her! He just couldn't take a hint, and now he disobeys an order during a mission of such importance? 'He should certainly know better!' This time she could not let it pass.

But her thoughts were brought to an end when Po moved to where she was. Listening in before leaning on the window frame, he attempted to look inside. It was useless; all he could see were their legs and lower bodies. Leaning closer, he put more of his weight on the window, and it started to crack. But this went unnoticed to Po, who was too occupied with premonitions of an epic battle to notice. Eventually, he moved away, annoyed that he couldn't see who they were.

Pushing Po aside crossly, she crouched down and went back to eaves dropping on their conversation, not noticing that the window was now damaged. Leaning her weight lightly on it, the whole experience was immediate; the glass shattered. She fell through and landed right in the center of the warriors.

Looking up, bright amber eyes met luminous golden seers.

Everyone was in complete silence for now. Dun, Hong, and the Wu Sisters all gawked at the tiger that had seemingly fallen from the ceiling, but Tigress was not concerned with what had just happened to her but more with whom she was staring at. Standing up slowly, Tigress's eyes never left his. Now it all made sense. Who else could the leader have been besides...

"Tai Lung," she whispered, awestruck... It was truely him..! She took in the sight before her. He appeared to look no different than the last time she had seen him. One thing that certainly was the same was his cold expression, although his eyes were filled with confusion as he looked back at her. She could see the cold callous cruelty beneath the surface.

"...You," Tigress said in astonishment.

"You?" Tai lung's eyes furrowed at her, his tone strangely curious.

Now that she was in the room with all of them, Tigress now had a perfect picture to put to their voices. She observed that the ox was old and very rough, like his accent. He appeared to be very angry, and he looked quite the militant type. He didn't appear to be an actual soldier; probably a retiree or mercenary. He carried a huge blood stained mace on his back.

Then there was the gorilla. He was a giant. He held himself seriously and, despite her intrusion, didn't look too phased at all. He bore huge plate armor on his body and had a red loincloth. He had his fists tensed. She couldn't tell his role in this, but he was obviously not someone to minimize as a threat.

Finally, there was the Wu Sisters. They looked exactly like the stories had described them: beautiful, but deadly- or more closely described as beautifully deadly. They stared at her in some sort of innocent fascination, but that was probably a fake façade they wore purposely. Or they were probably crazy. They had been described from stories to take enjoyment out of hurting people. All three of them carried oversized chakrams, probably for more up close combat.

So these were the leaders of this entourage.

Dun was the first to stop gaping. Snapping is head to Tai Lung, he furrowed his eyes. "Ya' know this girl?" he asked warily. The rest also looking at him in curiosity.

Getting over his astonishment, Tai Lung exchanged it for his signature scowl. "Yes. "We've met before," Everyone, _this_ is Master Tigress," he declared, not taking his eyes off of her. There was a deadly edge to his tone as he wondered how long she had been up there and what she had heard. He knew that there was someone spying- he could sense it- but he had assumed it was merely a nosy crewmen, who he would have dealt with later. Seeing her here now would confirm that there were others with her as well.

"Of the Jade Palace?" Hong questioned.

Tai Lung was about to answer, but more people jumped into the cabin through the broken window Tigress had fallen through. Po, Crane, Monkey, Mantis, and Viper all landed around her protectively. They gawked at Tai Lung. He was not surprised they were here. 'Like a herd of sheep; one falls, the rest follow'.

Po's eyes went wide and he yelped, pointing at him, thunderstruck. "TAI LUNG!" But then he seemed to find himself again and assumed what could vaguely be called a Kung Fu stance.

"You stand no chance against the Dragon Warrior!" He said triumphantly.

Tai Lung gave Po a quandary and seemingly disgusted look.

Dun turned to look at the panda with narrowed eyes. "Dragon Warrior...? You... _You're_ Shifu's little stooge, ain't ya?"

The Wu Sisters began giggled at the insult. Po looked like he'd been slapped across the face. Dun had obviously meant to make it clear that he was mocking him. A bloodthirsty smile then appeared on the Ox's face. He drew his mace then leapt at Po with ridiculous speed for one of his size. With a kick, he sent the panda through the cabin door right on deck.

"Po!" exclaimed Monkey, his eyes widening in horror. Quickly, he and Mantis lunged out onto the deck, intent on stopping the Ox's rampage.

Hong started to make after where Dun had just ran off. "I will help Dun, I do not think that even he has enough skill to take on two of the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior by himself." Tai Lung watched him follow off in their direction.

She bent down preparing to pounce. As everyone was here now, she wouldn't have any interference when taking down Tai Lung. Everyone had a taken opponent, which meant that he was all hers.

The Wu Sisters used the rest of the Five's astonishment as an advantage. The three of them leapt up, went through the broken window, and fled. Viper and Crane had followed the Wu Sisters out from the window while Po, Monkey, and Mantis were currently fighting with the large and heavily armored ox and gorilla, who had ran out on deck. Giving Tai Lung her full attention, Tigress crouched down and prepared to attack while his attention was on the others.

Tai Lung began to survey the situation. Quite honestly, he could have managed them all with relative ease, but if the others wanted to fight too, then he didn't have a problem with that. It would give him less work to do. He spotted the Panda and stared resentfully at him. Presently, he was on deck combating Dun. He flexed his claws and scowled. Even though he was leaving, he itched for another opportunity... He had done well to rid his mind of the fat Panda when so far away, but now that he was right in front him, he felt old grievances ignite. After months of thinking about it, he had come to the terms with his decision to leave. But suddenly, he felt almost every part him ready to stay just so he could get his claws tearing into the cretin's neck! The urge was intolerable. But... he hesitated, noticing the tiger was not in the battle. Then out of nowhere, someone with a death wish decided to floor him.

Tai Lung looked to see who had dared attack him- while falling down. He saw Tigress looming over him. She was already about to claw his face. As he reacted, time seemed to slow, stretch out. Growling, he caught her wrist- just quickly enough to stop her from cutting him- then he tightened his grip. He threw her over his shoulder and into the wall hard, doing all this while going down. Then, skillfully, he changed the course of his fall and moved back to a standing position as if he had never lost his footing in the first place. Tigress landed her feet on the wall and flipped off it back into an aggressive fighting pose.

Narrowing his eyes at her, Tai Lung snarled. She almost had him right there. He also had the problem of holding back so that he wouldn't cause damage to the ship, a problem she obviously would not share. He would not underestimate her.

"So, what brings you all the way to Hong Kong?" Tai Lung asked coyly as the two big cats circled each other.

Regarding him fearlessly, she met his icy glare with one of her own. "I could ask you the same question." He didn't give her an immediate answer; instead, he only watched her. His eyes drank her body. She found herself feeling even more threatened by his silence. She had begun holding her breath... Obviously, he was looking for flaws in her stance, right?

He finally started talking. "I think that the right to ask questions is mine, especially since you are the intruder on my ship," he stated like it was obvious. "I have no desire to fight you all so I suggest you run along back to the valley," he said dismissively. She narrowed her eyes at him. He shrugged in confession. "Alright, maybe... I wouldn't mind an aggressive engagement with a certain panda you have with you, but mercifully, I would prefer if you were to leave."

She shook her head at him. "I came here to put an end to the anarchy you left behind, and now that I've seen you alive, I will do everything in my power to stop you."

Laughing tauntingly, he tilted his head, mocking confusion. "Stop me? Tell me; from what exactly will you stop me from doing?"

Narrowing her eyes, she started to retort. "I..." She looked down thoughtfully; she didn't have an answer, and he knew it, too.

Smiling fiendishly, he told her, "I will tell you. You stop me from killing all of your friends, which you have just delivered to me on a silver plate."

Tigress snarled at the threat. She'd erase that satisfaction soon enough.

She didn't delay any longer, and leapt at him.

"You won't harm them!" she roared, springing her foot in a perfect flying roundhouse kick, which was blocked effortlessly by the bigger and more experienced leopard. The moment before her paws touched the ground_—_She tried again, throwing her fist straight at his face. But quicker than the eye could see, he dodged, and let it fly right passed him. She jumped away putting a couple feet between them. Her mouth set into a thin line, he hadn't retaliated at all_... _yet.

She took a wide stance and resorted to something she normal wouldn't deem necessary. She unsheathed her claws.

Bursting towards him, she attacked, _semi_-wild, a barrage of fist and claw, at all angles. He retreated from most the assault, easily evading her, but abruptly her speed picked up, and he was forced to move even faster... It reached the point where he could no longer manage to dodge her claws; she slashed at his shoulder_—_he blocked forearm to forearm, swiftly she caught his arm and locked around it. She was shocked that she managed to catch him. She brought her claw down hoping to harm him. It landed! Yet, taking her by surprise, he seemed to anticapate exactly what she had intended. Catching her hand on the curve between his bicep and shoulder, he trapped her paw and stopped her before she could drag it down.

He left them both stuck.

For a brief second, they caught each others eye_—_Then she pushed! She seemed to have to the advantage, but his haughty smirk worried her. He went still as rock, sending a message on how seriously he was taking her. She frowned, and put All her strength into pushing him back. They both began to strain, and his smirk vanished. At first she thought she'd managed to match him- but no, it wouldn't happen. He threw her back with too much force for her to handle.

She staggered back, and hit the wall. Leaning on it, she used it to balance herself temporarily. She heard a snicker. She growled at went at him again.

He ducked under a another _vicious_ kick, this time taking grip of her ankle and using her own momentum to spin round, and throw her against the wall of the ship. She gasped as her back collided with solid wood, only to grunt as Tai Lung pinned her against the wall with her arm cranked behind her back. Tigress frowned in discomfort. She knew... he was enjoying this... humilating her, but it would not work.

He pressed himself flush against her, and whispered in her ear. "No? Then show me how you intend to stop me?"

Tigress blushed furiously, butterflies dancing in her stomach. She immediately tried to free herself. "… G-Get off of me," she demanded, struggling in his grip.

"Make me," responded Tai Lung.

Thinking quickly, Tigress spotted a weapon rack within reaching distance. Holding her breath she braced herself. She dislocated her own arm with a pained grunt, escaping Tai Lung's hold all while maintaining breath-taking quickness and grace. Quickly, she snapping her shoulder back into place. She drew two butterfly swords and turned, holding them out threateningly. Tai Lung was impressed by her determination, but didn't allow it to show. Abruptly, she blasted forward, having the swords ready to skewer him.

He narrowed his eyes and prepared to move out of the blades direction. She must have seen this because the blades were pointed in an altering direction as if ready to move to with him... Tai Lung let her get closer. The space between them was almost gone. His fist shone blue, and it burst right through them, both shattering the swords into fragments that flew all around the room. Tigress gasped. The world seemed to slow down as he grabbed her by the throat out of the air and rammed her to the ground, pinning her there.

Her eyes went wide... 'Did that truely just happen?' If she wanted to do that... it would have taken her all to break steel the way he did... Yet Tai Lung broke both swords and didn't appear to have put any effort into it at all. What kind of training could give one the strength to do something like that? She recalled Shifu explaining that the feat of shattering hard metal with a mere push of one's hand was attained only by the very few most powerful warriors in Kung Fu history.

She felt panic and... desperation bleed into her thoughts. Why couldn't she win? How could Tai Lung still be alive, even after Po had used the Wuxi Finger Hold? Nothing could survive it! What could she do against someone who could?

The more she thought about it, the more it unnerved her... Now she was beginning to regret this whole endeavour.

She prepared to try and get away, but then she looked up. She saw Tai Lung looming over her with a resolved glare. Fear started to build up within her. She was in trouble.

She swallowed and brought her paws up to his arm. She tried to pry him off, but hold on her was too strong. Looking around desperately, she sought help, but none of the others were anywhere to be seen. She could hear them battling outside, and all she could do is hope they were winning. Turning her attention back to him, her eyes were fearfully taken hold of by Tai Lung's. He seemed to enjoy how vulnerable she looked, then on his face a very dark scowl appeared. It was almost enough to make her turn away. The terrible look he wore told the whole story, that she was finished.

Raising his paw, he prepared to house his legendary nerve attack that had beaten her and the rest of the five previously. His fist began to emit blue energy. She froze, unable to act.

His voice cut straigt through to the core, it struck fear into her heart. "You will never see them again." Tai Lung said before he struck.

Estranged pain passed through her, and the last thing she saw was Tai Lung as he stalked off. Then her vision went black.

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An east Indiamen is it is a type of ship. I hope you read the next chapter.

Appreciate you reading, thanks a lot!. If want let me know what you think...?

Chinese English

Hong"Success."

Dun"Shield."

Queen Anne's Revenge"Huáng hòu ān nī fù chóu". I couldn't resist.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: Making OC's is harder than I thought but I DO try, any advice is appreciated_**.**

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**Seize a Tiger**

Moaning, Tigress awoke to the warm sensation of the morning sun kissing her face. At first she wondered if what had happen was actually just a bad dream, and hoped that she had just woken up in her room like any other day. But as her eyes began to focus, her surrounds told her otherwise.

Leaning up groggily, she put her hand on her forehead as she felt the numb pain spike in her body. It was just like the first time she'd been hit by Tai Lung's nerve attack. Her body shook slightly at the soreness that even ached in her bones. She would have thought it would be less painful the second time around, but she had to say it was just as much- if not even worse. Looking at her surroundings, she could tell instantly that she was still on Tai Lung's ship. She couldn't recognize this place as her home. She had been laid on top of a corner post king-sized bed with a thick red quilt on top and large cushions at her head, but she didn't pay too much notice to it.

Getting off the bed, she lowered her feet slowly to avoid feeling anymore pain. She walked toward the nearest window from where she was standing and saw that there was no sign of any land nearby... How long had she been here? Where were the the other? Were they safe? ... Or even alive?

Huffing angrily, she turn to the double doors leading to the outer cabin, walking toward them. She heard the noise of a muffled conversation. She could recognize one of the voices being Tai Lung's, but the other was unfamiliar to her. It was extremely deep, even more than Tai lung's. From how loudly they were speaking, she guessed they were having an argument. But about what? Moving closer, she put her ear against the door.

She could make out Shifu's name being mentioned, and then they both began to raise their voices higher. Their talk seemed to be getting worse. But then- oddly- they both went into immediate silence. Furrowing her brow, she tried harder to listen, but could hear nothing. Then, without warning, the doors burst open, making her stagger through. She almost fell over, but luckily managed to regain her balance by leaning on the nearest thing to her. Her head rested on something very hard yet very warm. She felt a deep chuckle vibrate from the object she was against. Looking right in front of her, she saw she was leaning Tai Lung's chest. Slowly raising her head, she looked up into Tai Lung's blazing eyes.

He smiled deviously.

"Careful, love. You shouldn't go causing yourself harm just so you can get your hands on me," he said mockingly.

Leaning off his chest, she managed to hold back from her embarrassment and not blush. He merely smirked at her. She didn't know if he was refering to her attacking him or if he was insinuating... She didn't really like either option. Luckily, he was wearing a shirt now, so she didn't have to feel too self-conscious about falling on him. She kept up a stern frown. Truthfully, she was scared- out of her wits, in fact. Her friends were nowhere to be seen, and she was trapped here with him. She narrowed her eyes. Now was not an ideal time to be afraid. Steeling herself, she got over her fears and ignored her current pain. She jumped away from him and went into her kung fu state of mind.

Her expression turned furious as everything thar transpired rushed back to her. "WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?"

"Not here," he stated. But then he saw the panic on her face and decided he should elaborate. "I mean they're no longer on board," he said calmly. But this only made her more distressed; the look on her face reflected her throughts shamelessly. What he was saying didn't seem to help. Gripping the bridge of his nose, he thought over how he could say it so that she understood. "They were removed before we left Hong Kong... and they are all alive," he ended reassuringly.

She didn't look convinced, however. Eying him suspiciously, she searched his eyes for any deceit. "How do I know you're not lying?"

He glowered. "I'm not." His vibe itself somehow told her the truth. She could find no source of lies in his expression, so she had no other choice but to believe it. Seeing that he had no reason to lie, she had to force herself to calm down. They were safe, that was all that mattered. But why was she here? If Tai Lung had spared them and let them go, why had he not done the same to her?

Glad she had calmed down, Tai Lung sighed. He saw her gaze divert to Hong, who he had argued that her being here was not smart and she would bring them trouble. Hong wanted her to be thrown off with the rest of them, but Tai Lung had told him she would stay and that it was final. But he did not give him any reason as to why. Hong would get over it. Turning to him, he inclined his head for him to leave. Hong regarded him by sternly nodding once. Moving to the door, he went out on deck leaving the two cats alone. Turning back to her, Tai Lung was about speak, but she cut him off.

"Why am I here?" she asked bluntly.

Tai Lung grinned at her. 'Right down to business, eh?' "I would ask you the same question! You somehow knew where I was, and what I was doing. I'll assume that you were tipped-off." Crossing his arms, he looked her over. "So tell me, how did you find me?"

An insolent smirk appeared. "Perhaps your plans weren't as fool proof as you thought they were."

He scoffed. She still seemed to think he had been planning an attack, even now. He shook his head. "Did you look at were you are? Or do still believe that I have some GREAT army ready to ravage the provinces of China?"

She narrowed her eyes. Though she hated to admit it... just looking at the situation and adding the whole mess up, the idea that China was under an imminent threat didn't seem as plausible now. Tai Lung returned to her earlier question. "You asked me why you're here? A few reasons, but honestly... Did you truly believe I'd just let you all off without any repercussions?" he asked as though it was obvious. "Your little group put my departure back a full day, and I really don't take kindly to when idiots interfere with my- plans. By the time I had finished with them and had thrown them back on land, you were still unconscious. And since they were no longer on the ship, I decided that I'd keep you," he informed her.

'Keep you?' She had no idea what he meant by that, and she didn't know if she wanted to either. This situation did nothing but increase her aggravation. "What purpose could keeping me here possible serve for you? I am your enemy- be rational. I would only get in the way." Surely he could see this?

The look on his face seemed to change from arrogant to thoughtful, but still held it's arrogance. "Well, I can think of a few reasons why I could have you around. Now that you've mentioned it, I'll need to give you some duties while your here."

She looked guarded; whatever he meant, she knew it wasn't good. "What do you mean 'duties'?"

"Yes, well I can't have you doing, nothing can I?"

She gave him disbelieving look. 'Duties?' She understood now. He actually thought she would slave away for him? He had another thing coming.

"I will never serve you," she hissed at him. He really was mad if he thought she would.

He stared seekingly a moment, then smiled darkly at her. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't frightening. She had only ever seen him wear that look before he used his nerve attack on her at the Thread of Hope. It wasn't less threatening the second time, unfortunately. It seemed what she had said only served to encourage him. "I think you might want to reconsider. You're in no position to negotiate." He spoke tonelessly, but she could feel the underlying threat behind it.

She held back looking away from his frightening glare and met his with her own. Showing him that she would not back down, she snarled, "I'd rather slave away for the crew than ever be your servant."

His smile widdened and his eyes seemed to turn dimmer. She swallowed; she had never seen that look before. The intense edge made her blood turn to ice. He uncrossed his arms and stepped in front her. "Perhaps I might grow on you."

The way he looked at her made her spine shiver. She gathered her bearings and glared at him venomously, managing not falter under his scrutiny. But she'd be lying if she said it wasn't hard. "I'd prefer plague."

His smiled faltered for a moment, only appearing to twitch. He leaning his head at her patronizingly. She may not have known it yet, but she'd regret saying that. "Are you sure? I really doubt you'd be safe with them." She knew what he was talking about, but she doubted that most of them could handle themselves in a fight as well as she could. And it would honestly be better than being near him.

"I'll take my chances."

He raised a brow at her, then shrugged. Grabbing her wrist, he threw her over his shoulder and rounded his arm over her back, trapping her. He proceeded to walk out on deck. She started flailing. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she yelped. "PUT ME DOWN!" she growled. She began struggling and making noises of agitation as she attempted to get him off, but it was in vain.

Tai Lung walked across the deck with a few of the on-looking crew staring in amusement at their Captain carrying the ship's newest passenger, who was kicking and screaming. Tigress glanced to her side and her eyes widened as she saw some of the crew grin mirthfully. "Get. Off!" she growled. She attempted to harm him by continuously punching his back, but he was unfazed. Walking down some steps leading to the center of the ship, he dropped her in front of Hong, who looked at Tai Lung incredulously.

"Tigress has been kind enough to volunteer to swab the deck. Have someone bring her a bucket and rag, will you?" At first, Hong look at him as if he were joking, but then nodded uncertainly and left to see to it.

He looked down at her scowling face- licking her wounds and nursing her pride- and smirked. He then briskly took her shoulders lifting her up.

She was surprised by his sudden actions, then noticed that he was looking her in the eyes. She stared at him cautiously, but made no move. He brought his face closer till they were but a few centimetres from each other. At first, she was confused by his actions. Then she looked into his golden eyes. They held much, and yet they were empty and draining... She was suddenly captivated by them; something drew her in, and before she knew what happened, his lips brushed softly across hers.

Instant protest began. She tried to push away. How... could he Dare- but thoughts seemed to die as quickly as they came... She close her eyes tightly. It was gentle at first, and her lips remained passive under his own, taken by the pure shock of it all. Until he pushed their mouths against each other even further, making her blink rapidly, and her breath hitch. This feeling was unusual to her, and she couldn't deny that... it wasn't unpleasant. Her mind went blank. Slowly she allowed him and- though unaware of it- wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head for a better angle. It seemed to go on for some time, from what she could comprehend, but then he suddenly pulled his mouth away. She almost forgot where she was, but managed to keep herself from falling. She felt something in her hand and saw a rag placed there.

Blinking, she came out of the daze. His eyes moved to her hand now holding the rag. Then she looked behind Tai Lung and saw Hong, who had an unreadable expression. He set his gaze at something in the sky. She looked back at Tai Lung, who was eyeing her in an extremely prig manner. Fully coming out of her dazed state, she gasped in realization, then scowled in outrage.

Without a thought, her palm connected hard with his cheek. His head only moved a few inches, but he still looked like a volcano about to explode. He snap his head toward her, his eyes burning. She awaited for him to attack, shout, rage at her as she predicted, but it was not at all what she expected- in fact, it downright stupefied her.

He burst out laughing.

It wasn't chuckling, either. He was shouting in mirthfulness. She stared at him as if he was insane, then, confusing her even further, the on-looking crew joined in- even the apathetic gorilla was smirking. Blinking, she looked at them all in irritation. 'What's so funny?' she thought, growling lowly so it was made known that she was annoyed.

Catching his breath, Tai Lung grinned puckishly at her. Noting her confusion and overly obvious anger, he decided to ease her mind before she got any more frustrated. "I'm sorry, I concede that I deserved that. It's just that no one would even dream of ever doing something remotely like what you just did... it was rather refreshing," he explained with a frolic voice.

Tigress stared open-mouthed. Yes, certainly not what she expected.

He sighed. "You do hit hard," he said, thoughtfully touching his cheek. He actually sounded impressed- at taking a slap? She was too baffled to say anything.

His playful grin then vanished, turning cruel. "You have a lot of spirit, but that trait only goes so far. Since you volunteered to help the crew, this is how you can start. And if you refuse to this, then I'll find another way you can help them- which you really won't like." He gave her the bucket forcefully.

Collecting herself, she looked at him in indignance and stuttered to find a retort, but the last part of what he said managed to keep her mouth shut. Besides, he was already walking off.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," he said as he left and gave the audience a deadly look. "BACK T' WORK!" he barked. Being too cowardly try anything, they all fled back to their jobs. Tai Lung walked back the way he came and left her in a state of unbalance. Did all that really just happen?

She touched her lips feeling a wave of faintness, but she quickly found herself and wiped her mouth with the back her hand in disgust. Looking at the rag in her hand and scowling, she begrudgingly began to work.

* * *

Tai Lung was sitting in his cabin in deep thought about what had gone on throughout the course of the day and the night before. But mostly, he was thinking of Tigress. She was an intriguing creature. He had enjoyed annoying her, mostly because she was so easy to rattle. He also pondered the kiss they shared- or, rather, the one he gave her. It hadn't bothered him in the slightest, but she appeared to have been greatly affected by it. She was so disciplined and controlled, but when motivated properly, she was quite sensitive... in a manner of speaking, at least. He decided he would task himself in making her lower her restraints she had trained so hard to achieve and to show her just how fun living a more free existance can be. It was something he learned after laying low for so long, and he was determined to teach her.

Hearing the doors open, he saw Hong come through wearing a deep frown- no doubt there to discuss their newest guest.

"Master," Hong's deep voice rumbled.

Of all his allies, Hong had been the most loyal- unlike the Wu Sisters and Dun, who were in it for themselves. Well, maybe not Dun, but he had paid him regardless. Hong followed him unwaveringly, no matter what course of action, and decided to stay with him- unlike the others who promptly left after the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were dispatched back to the valley in a beaten heap.

Tai Lung nodded, acknowledging him, but also wore a frown. "I've said before, Hong, you have no need to refer to me as master. Just use my name."

The gorilla did not agree. Since Tai Lung gained his allegiance, Hong insisted on calling him that. The circumstances made warrant to the gorilla, but Tai Lung had no desire to be called as such by Hong; he regarded him more as a comrade. "Do you think it is wise to have her out there?"

Tai Lung looked at him. "Come now, it's not like she can't handle herself."

Hong's frown deepened. "It's not her I'm worried about."

Tai Lung chuckled. Yes, he could see a few broken limbs in the near future. "Well, if the men give her trouble, then it's their own faults. By the way, did you find out who gave away our whereabouts?" It something he had yet work out, and he after the battle yesterday he was very eager to find out about the loose end.

Hong shook his head. "Perhaps the Wu sister?"

Tai Lung didn't believe that. "No I don't think they would have. Although, Dun had been rambling with his men in the taverns quite recently. Maybe someone had been able to understand him enough for him to give us away." It was possible. Tai Lung's only regret was that he hadn't kept a closer eye things.

"Maybe." Hong said nothing else.

Tai Lung walked to the window. The sun was setting. He decided to go and relieve her of her duties. He ask Hong to have someone bring something to eat to his cabin, then he set off.

* * *

To say she was tired was an understatement. She was completely worn out; bad aches engulfed her whole body. She had cleaned the whole area and was now finished. Slumping back against the side of the ship, she slid down it until she was sitting. Damn Tai Lung for making her do such demeaning work! She was even a little mad at herself for actually listening, but what if he had followed through with his threat? Would he have? Though conflicted, it wasn't something she wanted to find out.

She pondered what had gotten her into this mess. She blamed the bad quality of windows on these ships. Not that she knew much about how they engineered them. But all she did was put a small amount of pressure, and then she was through it? It didn't really add up. She was leaning on it before with Viper and Monkey, and it was more than stable. Shaking her head, she rid herself of these thoughts. They weren't getting her anywhere, so it was pointless to ponder it.

Many of the crewmen that passed her by took a look at her while she was working. She reacted by glaring at them, to which most had fled. Any that weren't frightened of her... well she reacted by teaching them why they should be.

"Hi!" She heard a childlike voice speak in front of her. Looking up warily, she prepared herself for a fight, but she saw what appeared to be a... lion cub?

Furrowing her eyebrows, she observed him to be just above two feet tall. His fur was unkempt, making him look like a child that had been playing outside all day. He wore cheeky smile. She also noticed that he was wearing a very tall hat, wich was almost half his height. If she looked at the child from a distance, his look would have probably had him confused for a larger animal because of it. She smiled kindly at him, but it faltered. She had to wonder what a child was doing on Tai Lung's ship.

"Hello, what's your name?"

The boy smirked. "My name's-" He coughed in an attempt to make his young voice deeper. "My name's Xiaodan." She snickered at him in amusement. "You're Master Tigress, aren't you? Hong says you got caught by the captain sneaking on the ship." The gorilla can talk? Interesting, he hadn't spoken a word near her even once yet. But, seeming to be the opposite, the youth spoke energetically, and it brighten her mood slightly.

"Yes, I am. Me and my friends were on the ship last night." This was her chance to ask some questions and know for sure if what Tai Lung said was the truth. "Do you know what happened to my friends?"

Xiaodan looked at the ground thoughtfully. "You mean that snake, monkey, crane, and mantis?" She nodded. "I saw the captain kick them all off the ship."

"So they were all alive?" Xiaodan nodded quickly. Then she remembered that she had not asked about the Dragon Warrior. "What about Po?"

Xiaodan looked thoughtful again, then his face brightened as if he had remembered. "Is he the really ginormous panda?"

She raised her brow at the boy. 'Correct,' she thought in surprise. Ginormous was quite a big word for a little one. "Yes?"

She didn't think it was possible, but the boy's bright smile seemed to become even brighter. "He got SQUASHED!" he said, stomping. "By the captain!" She held back laughing at the young boy. Honestly, she couldn't help finding his amusement a bit comical. Coughing, she resigned herself. She needed to take this seriously. The boy seemed too innocent to be living here; this place wasn't exactly an ideal playground, considering it was filled with cut-throats and all other manners of unpleasant people. She would have to find out about it later on. Then again, he seemed to be quite happy despite the live arrangements he had.

Tigress's expression became one of confusion. "Squashed?"

"Yeah, the panda was all like, 'Am gunna' unleash my awesomeness!' but then the captain got really mad, and he decked him," he finished his little tale, snickering at his own imitation of Po. She winced at the last part, but that didn't answer the question. The cub had noticed she wasn't looking too good; at least, she didn't from her body language. Her posture was slouched, and her limbs appeared to be limp. The cub looked at her in concern. "Are you okay?" He tried leaning down so he could see her face properly, but it was too slouched- even for his height.

She ignored the question. "So Tai Lung spared him?"

"I did," she heard his deeply rich sardonic voice sound at the side of her. Tigress and Xiaodan both turned to him quickly. Looking up, she saw Tai Lung staring at her with an emotion she couldn't pick up. Turning to Xiaodan, Tai Lung instantly grinned. "I trust you have been polite to our guest, Xiao?" The cub nodded eagerly at him.

"Good, run along now." And with that, the little lion cub ran off to his own devices.

Looking back at her, he frowned. He had observed her appearance, and she looked absolutely exhausted. What he had forgotten was that his nerve attack usually leaves his victims in bad shape, and making her work all day wouldn't help her recovery. He could only really blame himself for that. He truly believed she would have done nothing when he left her, but it looked like she had taken his threat to heart. Picking her up bridal style, he proceeded to walk back up to his quarters.

She was far too knackered to protest to his action, so she merely went with it. "Where are we going?"

"To my quarters." He did not look at her as he spoke; he didn't really need to. He did need to be more careful with her. She was obviously ignoring her pain, so he'd take it upon himself to look after her. After all, she was technically under his charge while she was here, and he would be a very bad host if he did not take into account the wellbeing of his guest.

* * *

Your thoughts?

**Chinese - English**

Xiaodan - "little-helper."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: You all may have different opinions on the relationship between Shifu and Tigress but respectfully this is my perspective.__ Also I apologize in advance for anyone who is offended by bad language this story has or will eventually have._

* * *

**Tabooed thought**

Tai Lung looked down at Tigress's fatigued form cradled in his arms, her breaths long and heavy. She looked like she was trying to stop herself from drifting off. It was quite late in the evening now, and the moon was up high. He supposed she would be quite hungry after everything that had happened. Food would be waiting for him in his room when they arrived, so she could have his. He didn't really want anything anyway. She looked like it would do her good; she weighed a little more than a feather in his strong arms. Maybe it was just him, but he was still impressed she could hit so hard. That would probably be an advantage for her: to have your enemies judge you by appearance. He continued walking towards his cabin. He moved her so that her weight was supported in one arm. He used his free hand to open the door.

Tigress looked at him uncomfortably. She had not been handled this way before, and she couldn't stop herself from feeling helpless in her current position. The only reason she allowed it, despite hating it, was because she didn't have enough energy to stop it. Tai Lung himself didn't appear to be too bothered by carrying her; he looked completely indifferent. Feeling her scrutinizing gaze on him, he looked down at her. Their eyes met for a moment, but she quickly averted her gaze elsewhere, so he simply carried on. Tigress saw that many crew members sat chatting together and eating quietly, so she assumed this was the mess area or simply where the crew would take their breaks. Before she finished her observation, Tai Lung started talking. "Are you hungry?" he asked casually.

Was she? No, she was wasn't hungry; she was starving. But, unwisely, she decided to ignore her hunger and shook her head at him. But then a moment after her refusal, her stomach groaned in protest, deciding it should speak for itself. She blushed bashfully and looked away from him. She cursed her stomach for betraying her.

He smiled. "Then... you should eat."

Sighing, she looked at him questioningly. "Where would I eat?"

"Well, it's with me or with the crew, your choice." As if there was any real option there.

Looking to the crew, she could see some of them giving her inappropriate grins. Most had hungry, depraved looks in their eyes. She grimaced in disgust. It was plainly clear that she would not be safe with them.

"You," she muttered quietly.

He smirked at her, but did not boast. Moving on, he passed all his crewmen and noticed Tigress withdraw into his chest slightly, trying to hide the nervous look in her eyes. He knew the crew had not had a woman's touch for some time, and he would not have left her with them anyway.

Lowering her to her feet, he put his hand on her back for support incase she might fall. Opening the door leading into the inner cabin, also being his quarters, he walked in. Tigress followed suit, and the aroma of food hit her instantly. She saw a tray of spiced salmon with salad decorated around it. Her eyes almost burned holes into the meal so conspicuously laid on a table in the center of Tai Lung's room.

He could see how much she wanted it. Looking between her and the meal, he frowned slightly, wondering when she would move. "That's for you, you know," he said impatiently.

She didn't even question him and merely sat, then began to dig in.

He watched her eat quietly. She seemed to still have manners despite her great hunger. She had her eyes closed as she savored the wonderful taste and did not notice Tai Lung staring at her in deep thought. He wondered if she would have luxuries like this often in the Jade Palace. He never really had anything like that as a child, expect on the rare occasion that Shifu thought he'd earned it. He scowled. Shifu. Any thoughts of him sickened Tai Lung.

As she was eating, she took in her surroundings. The room, overall, was very extravagant. The whole place was filled with things that would allow anyone to live comfortably. At the furthest end of the room were some sort of middle-eastern style glass windows. The floor was red wood, and the walls were the same, only they had pretty looking patterns carved into them. There was furniture around the room of which you would usually find in anyone's home. Then there was Tai Lung's large bed. It had a tall canopy holding up transparent red curtains, probably if one wanted more privacy. She didn't know much about ships, but she innocently guessed that it had been purposely designed.

Sparing a glance at him, she noticed the bizarre look he was giving her. She wondered if he wanted to eat as well; it wasn't like she could stop him. This was his home, so he probably would have started already if he wanted too.

"What?" she asked questioningly, breaking his train of thought.

He shook his head. "Nothing, it's just I don't think I've watched a women eat in over twenty years," he explaned musingly.

"Can't imagine why," she muttered with sarcasm, but not quietly enough for him to miss. He merely chuckled lightly and moved to sit across from her.

She was glowering at him uncertainly and thought about when she encountered him for the second time. At first, he was cunning and cold and then today he had made her labor all day with threats of punishment. But now, he was suddenly being polite and even somewhat kind towards her, feeding her nice food. What was his game? She began to wonder if he had ulterior motives and that this new behavior was him setting her up for some sort of cruel trick.

He knew she was bothered by something, but regarded her with ignorance. "Why the glare?"

"I don't understand you," she stated simply, but her eyes were narrowed, showing that she was upset about something.

He frowned at her. "Then you should speak your mind, not bore holes into me with your eyes."

Growling lightly, she did exactly that. "You told me you'd kill all my friends."

He shifted awkwardly in his seat. He did remember saying something along those lines. "Yes, well I can get a little carried away sometimes and say things I don't mean."

"And today you made me work until I could barely stand."

If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn she saw a flicker of guilt in his eyes. He began his apology. "I know, and I apologize. It is not my desire to have you slave away during you're time here. I only-"

Not his desire? Was he trying to insult her? She cut him off crossly. "Only what? You must take enjoyment in having me so helpless. You're a fiend! You know that?" Her anger getting the better of her, she shot out of her seat.

She did not believe for a second he was sorry.

He looked unimpressed. "A fiend, am I? Well, I've been called worse. Really, is that the best you can do?" he jeered at her. As expected, she judged him without even knowing him. But this was something he had gotten used to.

Like a predator stalking toward it's prey, she moved right in front of him. Prepared with a verbal assault, she looked him dead in the eyes as a sign that she was not in fear of him. He was nothing but a killer and would not be able to intimidate her. "All the evil acts you've committed- destroying the valley and all those homes, murdering all those innocent people that had done nothing to you, and what you did to Master Shifu- is all unforgivable. Being locked away is merciful when compared to what you have done."

This time, she could confirm it in his gold eyes and a bit of some kind of other emotion, although his face looked suppressed. Were it not for his eyes, she wouldn't have recognised his emotions. To her distaste, he began speaking as if he was reciting some kind of formal address. "I will admit that my attack on the people of the valley was a grave mistake, and though you may not believe me, I do regret my actions- very deeply. I know I will have to live with what I have done until I die, but-" His demeanor fell and his face darkened hatefully. "Whatever I did to Shifu he deserved completely, and I will never be sorry for it."

He continued pouring out his anger. "You can call me evil, or 'fiend', as you creatively put it. Well, maybe you're right, but you don't know me. You know nothing of the events that happen twenty years ago." Tai Lung's chair groaned in protest as he rose up.

She got the impression that she wasn't as threatening as she thought, considering that he was over a head taller than her. "You judge me purely off what you have been told from distorted tales. You have only heard half the story or half the real story. I don't even need to ask if you ever considered that the allegory you have heard was dogmatic at all. You think Shifu is completely innocent, don't you?"

She'd admit that she'd not expected him to feel any remorse whatsoever, but the fact that he did threw her off balance. It must have been a trick. Then he began talking about Shifu. She now felt as though he was attacking her now. "He only wanted you to have the best life he could possibly give you. Why do you hate him for that?" she questioned, shaking her head at him.

Snarling animalistically, Tai Lung began to advance slowly towards her, forcing her to take a step backwards- but he in turn took a step forward. "HATE... does not begin to describe it. I once dedicated my whole life to a piece of parchment, all for the man I called father, and to this day I don't know why. Is that hate...? And in return for giving nothing but my love and my life, he gave me NOTHING! Nothing but betrayal and a life in chains! Is that what you would call hate? If so, then do you really need to question my hate?" She swallowed. He now had her backed up against the wall.

He saw himself as the victim. She probably would have, too, but rampaging through the valley? What did he expect? She would never dream of it. How could Shifu have known he wasn't the Dragon Warrior? It couldn't have been exactly how Tai Lung saw it.

Leaning his hands on either side of her, he blocked her escape and moved closer until his face was but a few inches away from hers. A deep scowl emerged. "What confuses me is why you, of all people, would try and defend him."

She frowned at him, trying not to look intimidated. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled wickedly. "Don't act ignorant. I know all about you. Shifu adopting another child after me. I doubt he treated you fairly." He attempted to stroke her cheek, but she withdrew from it quickly.

She looked away from him in contempt. Her words came out in a harsh whisper. "You don't know anything about me."

He ignored her and continued to speak. "Clearly he hasn't, otherwise you would not react so angrily."

"I know more than you think." Her irate expression told him she disagreed, but he didn't care. "I mean, before he denied me the Dragon Scroll, he only showed the rarity of his affections when I was a child. But then I showed potential to be what he could not. After that, it all changed. He became the strict master he is so famed as today, and whatever I saw as my father had vanished. All he became to me was a teacher, and all he saw me as was a student." From the way he spoke, and how he express himself, she knew he understood what he was talking about. He brought his face close to hers. "Tell me... Is this how he is with you?"

"Just stop," she demanded. She looked around urgently for any kind of escape from this.

Tigress didn't want any of this. She did not need him to tell her what she already knew. She easily remembered all the time she'd been with him, he had never even praised her once. All she had been given when she taken from the orphanage was a teacher. Not a parent. She didn't try hard enough for it... That was how things were... How did Tai lung even know this...? That couldn't be right.

His mood took a sudden shift. He diverted his gaze at the ground, in a deep thought. Each word was uttered with a twisted contempt behind it. "Does he tell you how you need to try harder? And no matter how hard you try to gain favor, no matter what you do, he fails to see how good you are. He just asks for _more_. All he sees is fault, I'm right AREN'T I?" It all rushed through in her head. Every scolding, every look disappointment. She just a let down to him, a failure.

The distaste in his voice became much thicker as he recalled what he had to do to please his master. "I had it for 'one day' day, you know. The recognition I wanted, oh yes I got there. It took the very breaking of my bones and sweating out blood to please him, and naturally I took it all in_—_only forcing my body to work harder and causing myself even more pain. Then, when Oogway said _no_, that would be the last I'd see of it."

She shook her head, denying it. She had been so happy when Shifu had taken her with him from the orpahage to her... new home, but when she got there, he turned cold, so cold. "... Enough," she pleaded quietly, trying to block out his voice. Her mouth pressed together in a thin line, but she couldn't do it; she couldn't tell herself he was wrong. Because no matter how much she hated him, the life Shifu had given her was nothing compared to what she thought she'd receive as a child. To always try so hard and always be slapped down for it. With excuses of error and how much more she need to push herself brought her nothing but self-disdain. She had to ask herself if there was something wrong with her.

He carried on, ignoring her protests, failing to see the effect his words were having. "So... I am right then. He treats you like dirt. I assume it got worse after the panda dropped in. Then you were left with nothing." Shifu didn't want her from the start. He only used her, and when she couldn't be used anymore, he didn't need her.

This time, she shouted to get his attention, but he was in whole different place. "I SAID. NO. MORE!"

He growled to himself, blind to what he was forcing her through. "Wait, I'll guess: he only ever tells you you've done wrong, and whenever you've done something right, he spits it back in your face." He simply told her everything she did was wrong, even when she absolutely knew she had done right.

"S-Shut Up!" she said helplessly. She tried, really tried to move, but some kind of invisible force held her from physically stopping him. Her despair ran deeper as she realised she had to take this. She closed her eyes tightly, failing to stop the painful jarring in her head. Her vision began to blur.

His voice was now filled with venom. It seemed the more time he spent thinking about it, the more his anger increased. He stared right into her. "Face the truth. He doesn't care about you- NO! He doesn't give a damn about you. All he cares about is his own, ambition, his own spotless reputation. After he found out you weren't the Dragon Warrior, you were simply expendable trash_—_nothing in his eyes. Just like I was." The next word was spoken purposefully slow. "Worthless."

"NO!"

She closed her eyes tight, hoping somehow to rid herself of the stagnant pain that suddenly took over, the hurt... the realization. It washed over her.

She tried to get away.

He came out of his outspoken thoughts and his eyes widened. She threw a clumsy punch at his face, which he instinctively caught, then he took a tight grip on both her wrists. Her eyes were brimming. Her face seemed to tremble, as she was fighting against letting come out. But she could not hold it in forever. The naked look, the depression... He was only trying to open her eyes. Shifu was the fiend! Not him. His scowl faded instantly... What had he just done?

He found no enjoyment seeing her in this state. Everyone in China knew she had been taken in by Shifu as his daughter, and nobody knew Shifu better than him... Or so he'd once thought. She had it rough, he could tell. But this reaction brought the question of just how hard. During his confinement his only knowledge of the outside had come from the guards idle chat. Rumours had spread that Shifu became withdrawn, that the cold Master had become sullen and to-himself. Tai Lung could only understand that what he'd said brought her pain.

He watched her warily.

She was like a lost child with no one to look after her. A statement that would doubtlessly have earned a broken jaw if said out loud. Her current state left her lacking in power. It was a feeling he could relate to, and even though someone like him wouldn't have cared about how another person felt- an enemy, no less- seeing her like this... didn't bring him any satisfaction. He hadn't _intended_ to put her through pain, not so much... He should have had better control of himself. But 'Shifu' was a subject delicate, to _both_ of them.

Watery and narrowed, her eyes quivered in a struggle. She still fought it. A single drop of grief leaked free from the corner of her eye. Then, finally, the dam broke. Her face went helpless, hot torrents of pain began coursing down and racking sobs started slowly. He let go of her wrists and steped back as though he'd get stung.

Her face had hurt written all over it. The sight made him want to move far away from her. But oddly, he was baited and continued to watch. He'd not noticed it before, but he saw something else there. His instincts were telling him he was treading dangerously, but he didn't look away. Her eyes held a weakness of which she had never let anyone see before. The pain she felt; he was familiar with it. Perhaps that was it? It was probably insane, and he had no understanding of it, but he couldn't help but find her so beautiful.

Tai Lung watched as she brought her hand to her face to touch against what was for her: absolutely unacceptable. She stared at the water on her fingers and scowled through her glassy eyes. He heard an agitated groan escape as she tried desperately to stop her sobs.

Tai Lung placed his hands on her cheeks, and with his fingers, drew away her tears in an act of affection he would have never ever had shown anyone else. "I'm... sor-."

She looked up at him with a hopeless fury and bared teeth almost an attempt to regain lost conformity. He almost decided to grab hold of her again encase she'd lash out, but the anger faded and her attempt recovery turned into another failure. Suddenly, she went rigid, then with no warning, her head fell into his chest. He instantly tensed, unsure on how to proceed. He stared down at her in confliction. His gaze was set on her, but he remained unnaturally still.

She had reacted in a way he did not understand. He realised she was clearly not in her right mind. Unpleasantness hit him, he wanted comfort her. A little baffling himself, his reaction came without thought. He tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders, and moved his arms around her in an.. awkward embrace.

She did not tense or withdraw, but buried herself deep into the embrace, totally unaware of how much danger she was in. Her hands gripped around his shirt, and she rubbed herself against him, silently jerking. He rested head on hers and took in her alluring scent, memorizing it. A deep shadow crossed his eyes. Moving his hand to the nape of her neck, and began stroking it tenderly, seemingly genuine with comforting her.

She looked up at him with glazed eyes and saw him look back. He made no move to back away from her or move forward; he simply stared with his honey colored eyes, which were suddenly magnetic to her. Something in his gaze had a deep influence over her. She sought something she couldn't name. It was a longing that should have been ignored, but his eyes somehow forced her to address it.

Slowly, she went on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, her longing gaze never leaving his. Putting her paw to his cheek, everything seemed to slow as she pulled him in.

They closed their eyes their lips brushed gently. She clung to him hopelessly... His eyes went wide for a moment. Without thought, Tai Lung snaked an arm around her waist, crushing her hips against his. He placed his other hand on the back of her head so he could designate the force he desired. To his own satisfaction, she copied his actions, pulling him closer. They aligned and pressed together. His tongue prodded lightly on her mouth. She obliged without thought, opening her mouth for him. Tai Lung was encourged by her compliancy, and his tongue entered her mouth. At first she did nothing, but then seemed to pick up on what he was doing and copied. Tai Lung felt himself begin to stiffen. Her scent was so _appealing_..

He felt himself at a loss of control. She never would have kissed him, or even touch him in any other way than in violence, but now here she was, touching him... and kissing him. She let out a soft moan, pulling into his mouth even harder. That was more than enough. His musing be shattered. He growled at her fervor, and pushed her off him and backed her against the cabin wall.

Placing his hands on her sides, he lifted her off the ground and felt the roundness of her powerful hips. He moved to kiss her neck. His predatory fangs grazed across it, making her shiver at the touch. Moving back to her mouth, they resumed. His hands moved to her shirt and began to pull it up. Just as he was about to reveal her, her eyes snapped open. The fog cleared. She pulled away from the kiss, gasping.

Coming to her senses, she put her hand on his chest. "No don't," she said imploringly.

Tai Lung first looked startled at her sudden withdrawal, but then scowled. "Why not?" he asked angrily.

She turned more desperate. "I just can't! I've never ev-" Tigress cut herself off, realizing what she was about to say.

He was confused by her at first, but then saw the deep blush written on her face. 'Of course. What other reason could there have been?' He mental smacked himself for not immediately picking up on it before. But it really wasn't so obvious. And even still, she shouldn't have been able to_—_He thought since she had stired this up...

Tai Lung looked at her panic-stricken face. She looked like she would turn _ill_ if she got anymore upset. He sighed. He lowered her to the ground. Although it was against his nature to release his quarry, he found the restraint to do so this time, just. "Very well. I'll let you go this time, but if we are ever to do this again, I won't be able to control myself," he said with complete seriousness.

He was telling the truth, and she was unnerved by it. But how had it happened, she wondered about that. It was something beyond her control. She tried to ignored it, put it aside, but she couldn't. She gripped her arms tight and looked to the ground nervously trying to piece together what just happen.

He moved to a dresser next to his bed and pulled out a pair of black coloured slacks. He began to change into them. She looked up, "What are you doing?" she asked, shocked that he would simply undress in front of her.

He gave her a displeased look. "You have eyes, don't you, woman?" She certainly did, and she averted them elsewhere when he removed his pants.

She heard him move about as he changed and couldn't help feeling as if he was taking his time- probably on purpose so that she would get even more distressed. "You can look now."

She turn back around and saw him smirking at her. He could definitely see her embarrassment. He wore no shirt, exposing his powerfully-muscled upper body and rosette studded fur. She could plainly see how defined he was, and she couldn't prevent herself from blushing at the sight. She wasn't stupid; she knew something appealing when it was in front of her, and he was- breathtaking, actually. He looked almost the same as that time when she'd fought him on the Thread of Hope except for the slacks now being black.

Even though she had seen him this way before; she only just took notice of him now. Why would she? It was was not the same as pointing out someone weak points, instead she was looking at him much differently. She almost forgot she was staring, but luckily for her, Tai Lung did not see this.

She yawned tiredly and gripped her head, wincing. This did not go unnoticed by Tai Lung, who frowned to himself. Yet again, he had forgotten of her pain, and on top of that, she had been laboring all day. "You should rest. You need it."

She looked at him cautiously. "Where can I sleep?"

"You may use my bed, and make sure you get a good night's rest. We'll have a heading tomorrow," he said causally.

She was somehow relieved that she could sleep here. She could not understand it, but she suddenly felt safer being closer to him. She blamed it on the opposing company. "Where are we... heading?"

Tai Lung smiled, unsuprised she was taking a 'genuine' interest, but he would not tell her just yet. "You'll find out soon enough."

She shifted awkwardly, thinking over what to say. "Listen... about me, just then-"

"Yes, I'm sorry for that." He could see that she didn't want to talk about it, so he saved her the trouble and cut her off. "It was not what I wanted. If there is any way I can make it up to you-" This time, she cut him off.

"No, I needed it. I've had too much pent up emotion as of late." She gave him an attempt at a smile, but then her face went dead serious. "But ever don't tell anyone."

She was well aware of the knowledge that she would never be good enough for Shifu; every look he gave was a reminder. Was it too much ask for a child to want her father? For her, it appeared that it was so. The bitter thought of why he barely acknowledged her was stored away into the darkest corners of her mind, _firmly_ trapped. Yet, not day had passed since she woken up on this ship, and _he_ had forced it out. She spent her life in Tai Lung's shadow, taking nothing but rejection since she was but a little girl. She used up everyday grinding on the knowledge it was him she had to set as milestone to exceed. An intense despondent drive.

Yet she let herself receive comfort from him. The one who had received everything she hadn't; the idea seemed obscene. She was confused, angry, and in pain... She was completely out of her mind. It didn't surprise her at all though. She held it all in since the beginning, and finally broke, giving in to the dejection. But found that she wasn't feeling anger right now, not even at him. She was too spent... and oddly she felt as though a huge pressure had been removed. Despite her current position, she was no longer so encumbered, which baffled her.

He simply nodded.

"Thank you."

* * *

The Mandarin sun had set quietly over the Valley of Peace. All of its people were hurrying around the street, going about their business like any other average day. Contrariety to its name, the whole valley was at peace... except for Jade Palace, where right now Master Shifu's voice could be heard for miles out. Shifu's voice bellowed through sacred the Hall of Warriors.

"How. _How._ DID THIS HAPPEN!" They all shrunk back at Shifu's furious voice booming around them.

The rest of the Five and Po had returned to the Jade Palace beaten and bruised to tell him that they had failed. And not only that, but the enemy had taken Tigress captive. It just wasn't possible; how could his students, the best in all of China, get defeated by the disorganized remnants of a fallen army? He refused to believe that the enemy they faced was capable of beating them- it just couldn't be true. Po spoke, his voice carrying shame. "It's my fault, master. If I had listened to Tigress and... did what I was told then we wouldn't be in this mess." The others gave him sympathetic looks. They had all failed.

Shaking his head, Shifu's attitude remained stone. "I do not know how you were defeated, but whoever is responsible will be brought down!" Shifu spoke commandingly. But they still looked defeated, which confused him greatly.

They all looked nervously at each other, each thinking out the right words. They had all decided together how they would break the news, but now that they were here doing it, it seemed much more difficult. Viper decided to speak out. She said it as simply as she could. "That's just it, master. The one who beat us, the one who took Tigress... is... Tai Lung.

Shifu's stern demeanor faltered- in fact, it completely shattered. He turned to Viper. Did he hear right? "... What?"

* * *

_If you expected them to roll in the hay anytime soon then I'm sorry to disappoint because it won't be soon. I hope you enjoyed reading thank you all!_

_"We'll have a heading tomorrow - We'll know where were going tomorrow". Some of you may not know what it mean't so there it is.  
_


	4. Chapter 4

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: I would like to thank anyone who has read and reviewed my story so far, knowing that you enjoy it encourages me to continue it so thanks to those who have been following_**.**

* * *

**Dreams, Nightmares**

**_Tai Lung's POV_**

Silently I sat and stared at the slumbering tiger laying in my bed. I watched her in a confused, yet inexplicably bewitched fascination as her chest rose and fell as she breathed. It was not that I hadn't seen anyone breathe before- and no, I am not as mad as anyone would think- but I found myself beguiled by her.

I assessed every little aspect of her gorgeous features while she was resting, and they were. It had been a while since I had something nice to look at. Her orange fire like fur, the exotic symmetry of black wang that was etched on her face, her long black stripes that extended down her whole body, and even that feminine figure. After all this time, I never knew she had one. I could only have a vague picture of how shapely she really was.

The clothes she wore were baggy, which was a bit distasteful. But I knew this was only because she did not want to be judged by her gender. It was a primitive world we lived in, and so she would be judged for appearance because she was a woman. She hid beauty by choice. It was a shame. For me, of course. I had spent all this time thinking of her that I had not slept all night. My mind was far too troubled for that anyway. I did not know what possessed me to let her go last night, but I had. I knew she wanted it; she simply wouldn't allow her body to dominate over her mind.

What truly vexed me is why I actually listened when she told me to stop. She had come to me technical, yet she withdrew, even though she was taking as much pleasure in it as much as I was? But I still stopped. It wasn't my nature, yet I let her go. I was now certain that I wanted her. On some level I think she was aware of what I really trying gain. It might have only been a thrill of lust, but nobody had ever had such a strange appeal to them. It had been years since I so curious about something. The longer I looked, and the more I thought, the more I was drawn in.

Shaking my head fiercely, I looked back at her face, which was indifferent. There was no negativity there, unlike what I'd seen before. When she looked at me with wariness in her eyes or disdain it made me feel strangely... vile, like I was a monster. This was not in the regular sense... it didn't please me. Usually, I would revel in the fact that the very mention of my name would cause another feeling of dread- I should have. I was annoyed at myself for allowing her to get to me in such a way.

She had only been here less than three days, and she already had me under her allure. She may have tried to conceal it but she was so beautiful- a new object of fascination- and I had her within reach. I don't know why I hadn't seen it before. But now that I had it was frustrating to have to her so close while restraining my more Cimmerian side from taking over, which in reality meant no control.

The end of her tail lashed in a tardy sway as if she was excited by something. I brought my paw towards her cheek, but it did not touch her. Looking at her more closely, I saw her lips spread into a smile. I felt my body knot up, though not in a bad way. It was the feeling that came with the most senual of sights.

I could hear her purr contently, which was enough to make me start staring at her again. She was dreaming, but of what? Perhaps of home or her friends? There was a small part me that hoped I was in her dreams and giving her a reason to smile. I scoffed lightly. Why would I think that? I snapped my head down so that I wasn't looking at her, as if I had caught myself doing it. But I couldn't help it. 'Damn this.' It made me uneasy, yet a part of me... didn't.. mind. Which part of this could I possibly be at ease with? Attraction? Certainly the idea was ludicrous.

I do not become attached. I am Tai Lung. I am not held down by attachments.

I remembered her from twenty years before. The child Shifu brought home one night. She had arrived not a week before I laid waste to the valley. We had never actually spoken or anything, but I had still remembered. I wondered if she did, too. Unlikely, since she was so young.

I close my eyes, allowing myself to drift off.

Sleep was something that never came easy to me.

* * *

Tigress blinked rapidly and yawned. Leaning up, she stretched her limbs as far as she could. It was quiet. She felt a lot better than she did yesterday: she wasn't tired or fatigued, and her pain was gone. She felt a new resolve- in fact, she was ready for anything.

She looked to see if anyone was in the room, but there appeared to be no one. Wait. Getting off the bed, she observed that Tai Lung was sitting in a chair sleeping just a few feet from her- or at least, he seemed to be. Tilting her head to the right, she looked at him cautiously, wondering just how light of a sleeper he was.

His head was slouched forward slightly, and he had a troubled look on his face. Walking up to him quietly, she leaned down just enough so she could get a look at his face. She knitted her brow. It was contorted in unhappiness, and... even fear? His eyes seemed to shift around even though they were closed. He appeared to be in very deep. Definitely not a side of Tai Lung she thought had existed, but then again he had expressed a side of himself last night that she couldn't even begin to understand.

It was blur really. She couldn't recall it in total vividity, much of it was hazed. But she could recall vividly how his lips pressed against hers, where his hands went. She frowned tensely. Just the sight of him now forced her to flush. She couldn't fully remember how they managed to end up kissing, but _Tai Lung_, being himself, had wanted more. She panicked at first. She didn't know how she had gotten into that position... and thought he wouldn't stop, that he'd simply try to take her right there. But he did stop.

She then realized that Tai Lung was not so simple as how all the tales made it out to be. Of course he was evil, it was a side of him he'd done well keeping at bay. Although, that was probably wrong, and the cruel side of him he had was merely hidden on purpose. Yes, he clearly was toying with her. The... the things he'd said were only meant to hurt her; but how could he have known all that about her... when nobody knew these things?

She recalled seeing many emotions behind his golden eyes- even- if only for brief moment- sympathy. She remembered feeling daunted, almost outside her own head when he bore into her... No, it obviously nothing. He was toying with her, it was obvious. All the tales portrayed him as heartless fiend. She snapped her head away from staring at him. There was no way that anyone would make up such stories if they didn't have evidence to make it the truth.

Shifu naturally never brought it up, and she never directly asked him about it. She did not dare. Her reference had come from the valley's citizens. Most had hatefully described him as a monster that should have been vanquished the day Oogway had stopped him. But other reminisced that he had always been unquestionable loyal, and dedicated to his master, and his goal, and that he had always been polite to the lower class people of the valley. When she asked for more, they simply told her to ask her master. But she never did.

She timidly moved her paw to his cheek and felt his strong face. He had a cold sweat. She pushed his head back gently so that his posture was less uncomfortable. She didn't know why she did it, but found herself concerned.

He appeared to be having a very vivid nightmare. Did he have many nightmares? Probably. So Tai Lung has fears... She did not find any amusement in see his vulnerability, only a deep sadness. She'd deny it with fire... but they both had had their similarities, especially in background. His story's beginning had been almost a replica of her own, or the other way around as it were, and she wondered if his nightmare was of him reliving his past- of his failure. Or perhaps it was something even worse.

She was about to pull her paw away and wake him up, but all in one moment, Tai Lung's paw latched to her wrist and she was pulled into his lap. His strong arms snaked around her. She looked at his face and saw his eyes closed. He was still dreaming. He unsheathed his claws in an aggressive motion and pulled her as close as possible. Then, strangely, he seemed to become more docile, and inhaled as if he was seeking something. Her eyes widened. She prepared to scream, shout, and hit him to wake him up, but before she could do any of that, Tai Lung's lips were on hers.

He drunkenly mashed his muzzle with hers and placed his paw on her neck, pressing her head almost furiously against his. The kiss was deep and violent, forcing her to moan in protest against his mouth- but she could sense an equally deep desperation behind it. She could not resist. Gasping, she felt one of Tai Lung's paws go under her shirt and move up her back while the other held her in place. She blushed madly, wanting to push away, but Tai Lung's arms were like steel. She was strong, but he was stronger. Before she could make another attempt, she moaned as he released her mouth and began feathering kisses down her throat, making her stifle a whimper.

Tai Lung finally relented and pressed his forehead on her cheek. Then she heard him speak. "_Hahh_... Tigress." His voice was hoarse and ragged with desperation.

"Tai Lung," she whispered breathlessly, her eyes half closed. She was no longer tense or resistant, slumping against him. Moving seemed to encourage him.

"They abandoned me, left me alone..." Tai Lung's voice was... broken and filled with despair- even hurt. And somehow she felt sympathy for him. What made Tai Lung afraid?

"Don't leave, Tigress," Tai Lung pleaded, crushing her body against his in an embrace filled with so much need.

She had stop this before he would get worse. She stroked behind his ear and whispered into it. "Shh... I'm not going anywhere." She didn't know why she said that; it just came out. But Tai Lung had seemed to calm down. Pulling her into his chest, he laid back in his chair with her set on his lap. She sighed, forgetting any resistance and deciding that it was wise to simply stay put and not risk finding herself getting more than a kiss.

Lying her head under his, she thought warily how she'd gotten herself in the position she was in now. not only was she his prisoner, but they had been intimate, even sharing what had appeared to be a tender moment with him- Tai Lung, of all people!

She had allowed him to kiss her once. Then she had kissed him. And now what just happened? Why did she do it? It made her feel weak that he had affected her this way. Before him, she had never looked at any other man in a romantic way- let alone kiss one.

She thought she wasn't ready for anything, but what just happened said otherwise. Closing her eyes, she knew she wouldn't be going anywhere if Tai Lung any had say in it. Which he did. A BIG say in it.

* * *

**_Flashback - 21 Years Ago_**

_Shifu walked up the Jade Palace's long temple stairs briskly. He had spent a long while at the Bao Gu Orphanage in order to train his newest charge. They had been traveling all day and had just made it back to the valley at night. Behind him, a little tiger- probably no older than six- followed. The child looked around in delight at the new place she had she be taken to. She seemed to be too enthralled with her new surrounds to notice that she was about to-_

_"Ow!" ... Hit her head on a pillar. She clutched her head, rubbing were it hit._

_Shifu touted, but smiled at her. She may have control over her vast strength, but she needed to work on being less clumsy- something he would remedy. "Come along now, we're almost there." Turning, he continued on with her following suit._

_They eventually came to the top, and Tigress saw what looked to be a huge temple. It was the biggest building she had ever seen in her entire life, even though she hadn't lived that long. The temple had her in awe. Shifu opened the doors, and light seeped out. Shifu motioned for her to go in, so she did._

_Tigress looked in wonder at the what was in front of her: some kind of obstacle course filled with countless death traps. Snakes coiled and spinning where you would stand upon, making it hard- almost impossible- to keep balance; spiked rings and clubs chained to the ceiling, swinging across the field and threatening to batter anyone in their way; fire being shot out from the floor to scorch whoever were to set foot on it; and at the end, there were hordes of- well, she didn't know what they were called, but they looked like large wooden dummies with weapon protruding out of them. She wondered how anyone would be able to go in to the gauntlet and come out with their life._

_Shifu walked to her right and noticed the child-like interest on her face as she looked wide-eyed at the Training Hall. It reminded him of Tai Lung when he was just a child._

_"... Well now, it isn't every day we see a new face here," a serenely wise voice spoke next to her._

_"Master Oogway," Shifu greeted his master, bowing respectfully at him._

_Tigress didn't even look as she spoke; she was to fascinate by what she saw. "How can someone go into that and come out alive?" she asked, not realizing she had said it aloud._

_Shifu coughed loudly, getting her attention. "Tigress, this is Master Oogway. You remember me mentioning him." Tigress looked to her left and saw an infinitely old turtle standing there. He had a monk's robe around his shell and was carrying a worn looking stick. He merely smiled down at her with a content fondness only the most sagacious of men could muster. She remember Shifu mentioning that he was the grandmaster of the Jade Palace and very old._

_She bowed quickly, trying her best to be respectful. Oogway merely continued to smile. He bent down slightly to get a better look at her. "So you are the new student Shifu has told me so much about." Tigress smiled at being recognized._

_"Yes, master. We have just returned," Shifu said to Master Oogway._

_Oogway turned back to Shifu. "Your trip home was well, I hope?" Shifu and Oogway seemed to be interested in their banter, so Tigress went back to watching the fascinating contraptions work. As she watched, she noticed something move in the corner of her eye. Looking right at it, she focused her eyes and gasped. Someone was in there! But her fear was soon turned into marvel as she saw the person move with lightning speed. He was a silver blur in the field of dummies and was ploughing right through anything that spun to attack him. Dodging, breaking, and ducking, he appeared to be almost dancing through the course, as if performing pure artistry. He jumped on the surface with the shooting fire. She could now see that the individual was in fact a snow leopard. Her fears returned as fire burst out, but wondrously it seemed to stray way, avoiding him instead of charring him- as if afraid. But this did not frighten her. She was mesmerized by the way he moved; it was surreal._

_The snow leopard traversed the rest of the course and didn't look like he was even trying. When he'd finished, he walked off to the side. Causally, he took a towel and wiped the sweat off his head like he just finished some routine exercise._

_Tigress saw him look to Master Shifu, who had noticed him as well. Both of them seemed to brighten as they bowed to each other. Then the snow leopard turned his gaze to Tigress. She couldn't read his expression, but she could see there was a deep emotion in his golden eyes as he transfixed them on her. The intensity of his stare made her want to flinch away, but she was too captivated by it to look away. He seemed to look right into her eyes as if in-goading for her reaction, but she simply stared back, completely entranced._

_She wondered why he looked at her that way, but she would probably never find out._

* * *

**_Present_**

Tai Lung's nightmare had been the same one over and over ever since he had been laying low. In fact, the first time he'd slept since he had broken out of prison, he had been suffering from these... nightmares of his confinement; something he refused to think about. Even though he could block out memories of it all, that didn't stop them from haunting him in his dreams. It was the one place he had yet to master, and he hated it. He had different ideas as to why he was suffering this way... but he was no mind doctor. All he knew was that he weaker from it. The constant reminder of the suffering and weakness he'd endured made him feel frail... almost powerless. Yes him! It was a constant oppression... it seemed to have no ending. If he closed his eyes he could almost see it... the doors of his cage shutting... the light fadin- He shuddered.

But this time, it had been different. The dream had ended prematurely. He had managed to escape, or something had brought him out of that so very dark place and... saved him. And when he opened his eyes, he was taken aback by the sight of Tigress, who was secured tightly in his arms.

He instinctively had an idea of what had happened while he was sleeping. There has been times when he had woken in very... odd places after his nightmares had ended, but she didn't need to know that. Yawning deeply, he felt her jump in surprise; she must have dozed off while he had subdued her. Her head snapped towards him. She looked straight at him with a dumbstruck look on her face.

"Well, I'm out for five minutes, and you're already on me. Really, I never realized you wanted me so badly." A smile grew on his face. "You are a bold one," he said with mild surprise. He already knew that he must have forced her in this position- minus the details of it- but he could also pick it up in the air. Her strong scent was overwhelming.

She looked at him in confusion, and he also pick up a little disappointment. This made him curious to know the details of what occurred while he was dreaming. "You don't remember?"

He could have told her the truth, but he knew he wouldn't, so he resorted to what was easy and simply smirked smugly at her. "All I see is that you can't resist me, even in my sleep."

Tigress scowled woefully at him. "You were the one who couldn't stop touching me! 'Even in your sleep'," She mimicked his tone at the last part.

Tai Lung chuckled. "So you're telling me that we had a romp while I was in some far off place?" Tigress forced back a blush. Luckily, Tai Lung did not press the subject further. She grew mad at herself instead of him this time. He had constantly been catching her off guard. Since she had arrived on his ship, she had been a step behind him, and it made her feel like she was off form. Yes, he was Tai Lung, but she was Tigress, leader of the Furious Five! She should be better than this.

Tai Lung could see her musing and was curious. "Tell me what you are thinking," he whispered in her ear. He drew one of his claws and stroked under her chin. She shivered and suddenly remembered how close to him she was and became tense. Tai Lung was fully aware of how she was feeling being so near to him, and it only increased his urge to let go and take her.

Ignoring the obvious pleasure she was having, she looked at him questioningly. "What were you dreaming?" She felt almost desperate to know what could cause Tai Lung to look so hopeless. She didn't ask so that she had an advantage over him, but out of pure curiosity. His mood shifted, then he looked away uncomfortably. He was hiding something; it was as plain as day.

"It's nothing," he muttered in an unconcerned manner, but she saw through it.

"You're lying," she accused.

He growled. Couldn't she just leave it? "Perhaps I am. What business is it of yours?" he said harshly, a little more than he meant to.

"It is my business when you say my name in your nightmare," she retorted bravely. He called out to her- even pleaded. That obviously meant something.

Tai Lung faltered. He'd said her name? He wondered why she had asked in the first place. Was she concern for him? Either way, he would not tell her. He would never tell anyone.

He sighed warily. "Just forget it."

She knew he wouldn't talk about it, but was going to try again anyway. But before she could, he started speaking again. "You really should get up now. I'm finding it more and more difficult to restrain myself. Having you so close gives me the overwhelming urge to ravish you." She blushed at his bluntness, then moved off him a little too quickly, making it obvious she was embarrassed. He knew that would work, and was secretly glad he'd gotten out of that conversation. And with that, Tai Lung got up. He stretched slightly, then turned to her. "I will have someone bring us something to eat. You can explore if want, just make sure you don't cause any damage."

"What would make you think I would cause damage?" He was letting her go around his ship freely. She was aware he could be treating her much worse, but she did not know what he meant when he told her not to cause damage. She had no reason to.

"You have a short fuse, you know... And I would prefer it if the crewmen weren't maimed if they were to do something stupid."

She understood, but couldn't help feeling insulted. "If they decide to try anything, I won't be responsible for my actions," she said hotly.

He simply shrugged at her. "They are female depraved, grown men with no self-control; they can't help it."

She scoffed and muttered something in annoyance. Tai Lung did not speak further; he simply left. She watched him until he closed the door, then sighed.

She turned her thoughts loathingly on how some of the crewmen had glowered pervert-idly at her previously. If they tried anything, she'd make them regret it.

Well, it was time to get better acquainted with her surroundings. With it being such a big ship, it would be handy.

* * *

Tai Lung strolled leisurely to the galley to find some breakfast. It was sunny and hot and very breezy: perfect weather. He was glad to finally be away from China. He hadn't had much thought in where he would be going, but to anywhere that wasn't China, and he still didn't fully know what he was going to do with Tigress. He had no need to worry; the answers usually came to him in time.

If he had left her behind with all the rest of Shifu's students, then he wouldn't have to be responsible for her. But it was a little late for regretting his decision now- not that he didn't mind her around. But he couldn't help but ponder the what-ifs. He moved his thoughts to how Shifu would retaliate to him abducting his prize student, or to the knowledge that he was alive. Tai Lung knew he would act soon, but it wouldn't do much good if he had no idea where to find him. It would be a chase, which Shifu would lose.

As he walked by, he heard some of the crew talking. He wasn't listening fully, but he thought he heard the crewmen mention Tigress's name. Turning his attention to them, he saw a rather large burly bull speaking loudly to a pair of dogs. Moving closer, he confirmed that they were talking about her. "I don't know why the captain is keeping her around. She's just useless baggage," one of the dogs exclaimed. Both nodded in agreement.

The bull spoke in a thick accent. "He's prob'ly bein' callow. I bet 'e think she'll be good under the bed sheets." They all laughed at that. It made him growl. They thought he was callow?

"Although I see why the capt'n likes her. I may be a bull, but I would definitely screw 'er, hehe," he said huskily. Tai Lung glared coldly at the bull. Who the hell was he to speak about her like that? It made his blood boil. His growl grew louder so that they could hear him. Turning to him, they gaped. They all knew what was coming.

* * *

Tigress hadn't left the interior yet. She was still looking around Tai Lung's room. The place had a lot to look at, and she was really just looking for an excuse to avoid being near Tai Lung. She wondered if the others had made it back to the valley by now and if Shifu would come for her. If she was honest, she didn't look forward to it. He'd probably reprimand her on failing her mission, lecture her on how she had done everything wrong and that she needed to be more attentive or something along those lines.

But it was probably inevitable, and suddenly the idea of staying with Tai Lung was slightly more attractive... She shook her head sharply. That was no option.

Looking at the far side of the room, she saw a large cabinet and was curious to know what was inside. She didn't take Tai Lung for someone who liked lots of clothes. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she proceeded to toward it.

The first thing she saw when she opened it was weapons- lots of weapons- which didn't surprise her. Tai Lung having a wardrobe filled with instruments of death just seemed to fit, even if it could have been found a little ironic. They were all exotic and quite different from each other; some of them she couldn't even recognize. Picking up on one of them, she grip the handle of strange looking device. It looked like a miniaturized mortar of some kind. It almost looked like the weapon Shen had used against them. She wondered how it worked. It seemed to have a trigger like a crossbow, only it was smaller and curved for a finger. There was also a second trigger on top. She pulled back, and it clicked. She waited for it to do something, but nothing happened. That was it? A click? Not that impressive.

Putting it back, she took notice to an outlandish sword perched in the center of all the strange weapons. The hilt was a bright, almost blinding silver with black intertwining around one another. The guard was a foot in length with many precious gems embedded into it, giving an ornate and incredibly stylish appearance. The blade itself was a jet black. It was perfectly straight except for the tip, which was curved out slightly. Despite the ultra-dark color of the steel, it glistened perfectly, giving a slight glow. It was beautiful. Much less the width of the Sword of Heroes, but was quite a bit longer.

She grip the handle and lifted it slowly. The sword wasn't too heavy despite its size, and yet it wasn't too light. It seemed to hum lightly as it moved. She wondered how Tai Lung had acquired such an exquisite weapon. She swung the blade, and the hum loudened into an almost melodic noise. The sword had an overbearing presence radiating from it, meaning it probably had some kind of hidden quality to it. She could almost feel the presence of the sword scream to her, boasting of its power. She frowned at it. Her senses told her to leave it alone, so that was what she did.

She finished her examination and placed it back on its perch, then closed the cabinet. She supposed it was time to look around elsewhere.

Tigress left the cabin promptly. Opening the door, she winced slightly as light poured in. It was a bright and sunny day.

She walked out on deck and expected the crew to all be going about their jobs, but no one was in sight. Furrowing her brow, she walked down the steps leading to the center mast and heard loud voices on the other side. Walking around, she saw the whole crew grouped together in crowd. They seemed to be watching some sort of spectacle.

She tried looking over the top of them, but most were taller than she was, so she resorted to pushing her way through them instead. Then she saw that it was Tai Lung. He was holding a huge steel crossbow and had it trained on something near the mast. Looking toward it, she saw a large bull with petrified look on his face. Hong stood next to Tai Lung with a blank look on his face, not giving away his feelings. Some of the crew watched in amusement, others in concern; but most looked completely indifferent.

"Pl-Please, sir. I-I didn't mean to upset you," the bull stuttered pathetically. She noticed it amused Tai Lung to see how close the bull was to wetting himself.

"Humph... Well you should have thought about that before you spoke," Tai Lung drawled cruelly. Some of the crewmen shook their heads. The bull clearly had never seen him when he was really upset.

Tigress narrowed her eyes. She couldn't let this happen. If he only spoke out of term, then it was unjust to kill him. "Stop."

He frowned. He didn't need to look to know who it was. Besides, what other female was on the ship? "Why should I? I am the captain of this ship, and I will punish my underlings in the way I see fit." He then turn to look at her.

She scoffed. "Killing someone for saying something wrong is hardly a fair punishment to fit the crime- at least, one would think."

Tai Lung's expression did not change. "I never said I was punishing the whelp for what he said. I am punishing him because he has displeased me." He spoke as if it was taboo for him to be upset. "Why do you care what I do to him? You don't even know what he said." He then gave her his full attention.

"It doesn't matter. It's still wrong." She found it very hypocritical. He had told her he did not want his crew to be maimed, yet he was about to kill one of them anyway? Unfair.

Tai Lung laughed wryly. "Wrong? And who can judge what is right and wrong? I say he is guilty; you say he is not. If you care so much, why don't we find a way to settle this fairly?"

Tigress furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully at him. "What do you have in mind?"

Tai Lung turned his attention to the crowd. "XIAODAN!" he barked, and right on queue, the little cub appeared from the crowd's legs. Running to Tai Lung, he looked up at him expectantly while Tigress looked on cautiously. Tai Lung smiled at the cub and then walked up towards the bull tied to the mast. He pulled out an apple from nowhere, then placed it on the bull's head. Walking back to Xiaodan, he placed the crossbow in the cub's paws. He stumbled, almost falling from the large weight, but managed to keep himself and the weapon upright. Tai Lung placed his paw on the cub's shoulder and pointed at the bull. "See if you can hit that apple for me, will you?"

At first, he looked uncertain, but then a look of determination appeared on the cub's face. "Alright." The child seemed oblivious to what he had actually been told to do.

"Good lad!" Tai Lung said approvingly.

Tigress shook her head. She couldn't watch this anymore. "What do you think you're doing?"

Tai Lung got up and looked at Tigress warily. "I think this is a good compromise. Instead of killing him, leave it to chance," Tai Lung said loudly enough so that the bull could hear.

"What? By making a child do it?" she shouted in anger.

He frowned again. "Trust me. If it was my way, he'd be dead already. Besides, there's no guarantee he'll hit him."

"You think that's justified? You can't leave life and death in the hands of a child!" Tigress wondered if he had lost his mind. What if the child did kill the bull? She knew from the clear innocence in his eyes that he had never killed or even seen someone be killed, and she had no doubt Tai Lung already knew this.

"Well tough, 'cause I am."

Tigress looked at him, scandalized. "You think you're so much better than everyone else, don't you?"

Tai Lung smirked. "I don't think anything, Tigress. I simply know," he said matter-of-factly.

She growled and cursed him. "Ni hún dàn," she said venomously. Did he not know the meaning of humility?

Tai Lung put his hand on his heart, feigning hurt. "Your insults cease to amaze me," he retorted dryly. Was it arrogance to tell the truth? Shifu once said it was the mark of a hero to express humility, but that meant nothing to him, because he was no hero.

The crew looked on at the pair like they were insane. Even Hong stared in confusion. What happened to the matter of whether the bull lives or dies?

But the argument was brought to a swift end as they heard the whistle of the crossbow firing. Tigress and Tai Lung both turn the Xiaodan, who had fallen over from the force behind the shot. He got up, staring wide-eyed at what was in front of him. The two of them turn slowly to the bull and saw the liquid seep down the bull head. He'd hit the apple. Everyone gawked at sight. "Wow," someone in the crowd whispered loudly even. Tai Lung look slightly awed. He turned back to Xiaodan, who looked up at him with toothy grin. The crew waited for his reaction in complete silence. Tai Lung's amazement slowly melted away, and he grinned back at him. "That was really good." Everyone cheered.

The cub brightened even more at this, but was starting to look embarrassed at the attention. Tai Lung turned to the bull and scowled. "Seems you will live to fight another day, whelp." Then two boars proceeded to cut the bull free. "Take him to the brig." And with that, they dragged him off.

The crew broke off and went back to work. Tai Lung turned to Tigress briskly. "That concludes that then."

Tigress blinked, overwhelmed by all that had just occurred. If this is what a normal day here was like, then she dreaded to think what an odd day would be like.

Tai Lung looked as if he had just remembered something. "I still haven't told you where we're heading, have I?"

* * *

What I was annoyed by was it looked right when reading it the first time. Then the next day confusingly I read it again and it doesn't. Oh well, let me what you think and Review**.** Thank you for reading!

**Pinyin chinese**

"Nǐ hún dàn" - "You bastard". Yes, I know. How creative of me...


	5. Chapter 5

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: Thank you to **Shoujokrm26**, **industrialbacklashingdragon**, **K**, **Niama**, **Bellathewhitetigress**, **Sayuri **and **Annie **hope you continue to read and give me feedback. _

**_Warning: Mature content. _**_Things get quite phyical so if it bothers you skip the whole middle part and read the last part, it will give you the general idea. But if you want to read it then go right ahead._**_  
_**

* * *

**Word of honour**

She was, to put it lightly, overwhelmed. "Singapore?"

"Yes," he replied curtly.

Tigress gave in to the shock. She hadn't really taken any time to put things into perspective, but now she had no choice. She had no idea they had traveled so far from home in such a short time. It was too much to take in. She thought that they were still bordering China, at least. But it seemed Tai Lung wasn't making any stops, which in turn meant that the others would have no clue to where she was being taken. This also meant she could not escape, since she'd had never been beyond China. In fact, she had never set foot on foreign lands before. Singapore was on the very tip of Indo-China, but technically was not a part of it. Not that such a thing made a difference. She had still never been there, which meant she couldn't navigate through if she were to escape.

She stuttered for right words, but all she could do was state the obvious. "But that's hundreds of miles from China!"

Tai Lung nodded in agreement and smirked at her reaction. "You know your geography, well done," he said in an obviously put-on joyous voice.

She should have gotten used to his mocking tone by now. But she was not amused by him, not one bit. She centered herself enough to process what she had been told and to think straight. It would be wise to ask a few questions. Her concerns were very well placed- a prisoner in the unknown, that was what she was. "When will we get there?"

"Sometime in the earlier morning, if the weather is good." She looked around. It was very sunny and breezy. They would probably be there soon.

"And why are we going to Singapore?" She didn't hide her irritation. Tai Lung noticed, but quite honestly, he didn't care.

"Mainly to restock, but now I'll have to rid myself of some insubordinate crewmen, too." His tone changed a bit when he referred to getting rid of the large bull he had almost killed. It made her wonder why Tai Lung had tried to kill him in the first place. Despite what she was taught of him, he seemed not kill out of no good reason, so it must have been something that really bothered the snow leopard. Before she could ask, he carried on talking, but his tone had lightened considerably. "I also have a few friends in the area that I will be paying a visit to."

This made her curious. Tai Lung didn't seem like the type to make friends. She wondered what type of characters they were. If she was going off his reputation, then she would guess that they were a dangerous lot of people. "Friends?"

"Yes."

She waited for him to elaborate further, but it didn't look like he was going to. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why don't you answer my questions?" she asked in annoyance. She was getting tired of asking him important questions when his answers didn't actually answer anything. He somehow managed to dodge giving her any real information, whether he knew it or not.

He repressed a groan; she was far too uptight. "Oh? I don't know, could it be perhaps because you haven't asked them?" he hissed in an equally annoyed tone. Honestly, he'd admit it was fun pushing her buttons, but she allowed herself to get irritated far too easily. She was letting out her anger on him because she had no other way of releasing it. He knew first hand. It was unhealthy to keep such an emotion as anger held back, but he had found other ways of letting out his pent up rage- which he'd not go into. It would be wise for her if she learned to do the same.

She frowned crossly. "You didn't give me the chance."

Tai Lung stared for a moment, then blinked. He hadn't realized, but it didn't change that she still needed to lighten her attitude a little. "Fine, ask what you want then."

She had just the question. "When are you going to let me go?" He wondered when this would come up, and to be honest, he had no idea. It would sometime before he would return to China- and he was in no hurry to go back. He wouldn't let her make her own way back; he'd already decided on that. She was simply stuck with him.

"I don't know. Perhaps in a few days or months, maybe even years."

"What?" Years? She could just about tolerate a few weeks, maybe a month or two if she had too. But staying Tai Lung's prisoner for years? She couldn't do it. She had her duty to China to consider. The valley needed her to protect it, and the rest of the Five needed her to lead them. If she was stuck here, then who knew what could happen to the valley- which she could have stopped- or the rest of China? She sighed loudly. "I can't stay."

"I don't think I gave you a choice, if I recall." His voice was tight and sharp, like a dagger. She looked right at him and noticed his eyes bore right into her. She quickly looked away. She was foolish if she thought he'd just let her walk away. He would not leave let her leave until he said she could leave. Quite honestly, he didn't know why she'd want to return. It wasn't like Shifu appreciated her.

She attempted to argue with him. "I'm needed back in China."

Tai Lung scoffed at this. 'The people.' If it wasn't Shifu as an excuse, it would be them. She was allowing her moral code to rule her entire way of life, and this involved being completely selfless. In her case, an attitude like that would no doubt get her into trouble or certainly cut her life short. "China was fine before you were born; it will still be China long after you're gone. Besides, you should try to be a little more selfish once in while." His reasoning was quite a sound, to anyone but her. She never took any reprieve from her duties, but it did nothing to change her mind. She was duty bound. Her mind was set.

"I'm not talking about the land, I'm talking about the people. They need me."

He scowled. "The people, eh? I think they'll survive without you. After all, they have done it before." He was referring to himself, and she knew it. The people had eventually expelled any of Tai Lung's stories of heroism many years after he had been placed in Chorh Gom. They had either been forgotten or... altered so drastically that he was the villain of the tale. He could see that he was turning this in and around on itself; that would get them nowhere, so he decided to try and change the subject. "Have you seen the whole of the ship yet?" Wasn't really the best he could come up with, but it seemed to have worked.

She looked at him in confusion, wondering why he had asked. She probably would have by now... but when she had gotten on deck, her attention had been drawn elsewhere. She frowned at him. "No, your earlier performance distracted me." She was still uneasy witnessing what had happened, but she had to admit the little lion had left an impression. Her own analyse told her he didn't know the first thing about arbalests or combat. Well, beside scraping with children. But to take that shot? An impossible shot? Impressive.

Despite Tai Lung playing with fire, nothing awful occurred. It was pure luck- it must have been. Tai Lung could not have known he'd hit the target. Only someone well trained could have hit it, yet a child barely able to lift a crossbow had hit right in the bull's eye (pun not intended).

"Then I'll show you myself."

Tigress appeared indifferent, but her gut told her to be on her guard. It wasn't that he would harm her- which also frightened her- but his proximity. The contact he made with her when he had been resting or the first time he kissed her. Each time he felt her, it was more intimate than the last. Tigress feared how vulnerable she felt when he... She forced back a shiver. She couldn't understand it.

"Something on your mind?" his deep voice rumbled. Tigress looked at him, and he smirked. At the look on his face, she guessed that he must have sensed the type of thoughts she was having, but she pretended not to notice.

"No, shall we go?" He stared at her a moment. His smirk did not fade, even as he turned and motioned for her to follow.

* * *

The tour had been fairly interesting. Tigress found herself asking the odd question about how things worked on the ship, like the helm or rudders. Tai Lung found it surprising she did, but at least it was pleasantly surprising. By the end, she knew were everything was, from the galley to the brig. Currently, they were below deck in the store, which had very little light apart from a few dim lamps. It appeared to be a little empty at the moment.

"What are you looking for?" she questioned as he browsed through an empty bottle rack.

"The rum," he answered while he searched.

"The what?" She had no idea what it was besides that it was a drink.

He began to explain. "It's alcohol, vile and disgusting. The crew seem to love it, so I usually keep a lot down here." But the place was in need of being refilled.

She had never been one to drink, but she knew it did nothing beneficial for anyone. It only served to turn people into senseless corrupt fools without morals or a clear state of mind. Shifu had forbidden drinking for all his student, and he was especially adamant with her about it. Not that she would have ever done anything like that. 'Tigress, I never want to see you getting into such depravity.' she remembered the lecture very well, greatly to do with how sharply it was spoken. She had been, what? Ten, maybe. And it was as if she had already done something wrong by the way he'd said it, she wouldn't lie; it stung. But then it was the same with everything else too "Why?"

"For some odd reason it keeps moral high, it can turn even the most lazy or cowardly bilge rat into a jack of all trades, or so they say" she very much doubted that, but it remained to be seen. If such a thing was true she'd have to be impressed.

"You haven't seen proof of this?" she asked.

"I've seen that the crew is generally less pleasant when without, so I keep a lot here and ration it. Well, I would usually have it, but I can't find any." He stopped searching. There seemed to none. "Oh well. The crew will have to wait until we make port." It was shame. It worked so well in keeping everyone in line. He'd just have resort to brute force if they needed any motivation, which he had no problem with doing.

"Well I think you've seen everything now."

He turned to her and caught her staring at him, but when their eyes met, she looked down at her feet quickly... Was she shy? She shouldn't be. He'd done a little bit more than look at her for her to be shy about. Unless the reason was what had happened between them before. He could have laughed out loud; kissing her was the very least he could do... If she shied from such simple contact with him, then she could hardly begin to imagine what he could really do to her. He smiled fiendishly. A dark look arouse in his eyes. "Let's go."

Tigress walked towards the door, with Tai Lung following behind her inaudibly. She reached out for the door handle, but at the moment she touched it, she was spun around fast. Tai Lung's large chest pressed up to her own and pinned her against it. She narrowed her eyes and attempted to move, but all she ened up doing was pushing herself nearer to him. She began to panic. "What are you doing?

He didn't answer. She caught a dark glint in his eye as he bore into her. The usually brilliant gold had dimmed and had a shadow encircling it. The same shadow laminated his eyes before. Something had changed in him, and it was something terrible. She had no time to ponder it further as Tai Lung's mouth pushed into her own. Her eyes widened in trepidation. She put her hands on his shoulders and tried pushing him off, but he retaliated by grabbing both her wrists and pinned them above her head. She moaned into his mouth, trying voice her protest, but that had been a mistake because the moment her lips parted his tongue found it's way inside. Shockingly, control over her feelings was slipping... she knew this because her body began to take on mind of it's own... and decided suddenly that what he doing some how felt _permissible_.

She steeled and forced her mouth off his. She turn he head way quickly. This did nothing to stop him; he began planting craved kisses down her neck. Her words came out in whimpers as his muzzle trailed down her throat, dragging his fangs down her neck. "S-Stop...!" He took one of his hands from her wrists and placed it behind her neck, forcing her closer to his mouth. He could feel her voice vibrate through her into him while he was kissed her. He did not stop. She tried to force her wrists out of his grip, but he only tighten his grip and seemed to be encouraged to continue. "... Don't." It was what she was afraid of.

He held her tight in one hand, while his free hand roamed up her rib cage. And that was when she felt it. His hand grasped her breast softly, and a ragged moan slipped out. She had no idea where it came from, but what she felt was something all new to her. Her eyes moved to where he hand lay, and she watched him hold it softly... What was even more confusing was how she could be taking... pleasure from it. Her lips quivered. She began to forget herself and ceased resisting, allowing him to knead it through her shirt. Then his other hand released her wrists and her arms fell limply at her sides because she suddenly felt weak.

She wasn't weak; she could free herself. "Tai... Lung!" She brought her arms up again and started pushing at him. But he did not give her the chance to protest. With his other hand free, he moved it lower until he had found her pants. He placed his hand between her legs, then began caressing her gently through the material. Her mouth open, after a second delay, a deep groan ripped out of her mouth. The untrodden sensation, what was it? And why did she respond to it in such a way when he was touching her there? Her mind couldn't grasp it, but it was _so good_...

'NO!' She couldn't let this go on. In a last attempt, she tried to push her way out, using all the strength she could find. With her arms pressed behind her she thrashed her pelvis. But instead, ended up pressing her hips into his, causing her to feel something hard press between her legs- only enhancing how strong the sensation felt. She looked into his usually shining eyes fearfully, but they seemed more profound, more dark. A deep void, that revealed everything to her. This was the real Tai Lung now. He took her yearned face in, and he knew then that he had her. She could not bring herself to put a stop to this, whether she wanted to or not.

His hand pushed under her shirt and moved up till he could feel her soft breast properly against his coarse paw. He reveled at the touch. Her eyes quivered, and she breathed out in heavy pants as he assaulted her neck with soft bites. He took her nipple between his fingers and began more rough actions. She bit out a gasp as she still tried to fight against it, but it was a failing effort.

They looked each other in the eyes. At first, she would have looked away out of pure embarrassment, but when she stared in his golden seers, she had begun to realise how possessively he was watching her. Her own eyes widdened at the sight. It was as if he would eat her up at any moment, and found that if she were to look away even for even a slight moment, she would perish.

He started to pull her shirt half way up, giving him view of her toned stomach and just peaking at the bottom of her chest. His hand cluched her breast, whilst his other hand jolted roughly between her legs, causing her to yelp out his name again- only this time, it was not out of protest. His hips pressed into hers and his mouth moved onto her own, making her head bang against the door. She felt his tongue move inside her mouth, caressing hungrily.

She was completely flushed. Her cheeks were almost glowing in the dark room. Her face was contorted in a need for this to go further, but in her eyes was a strong denial to the fact that she was taking pleasure out of this. It seemed there was some part of her that still wanted this to stop. It made him growl.

He was about slip his hand into her pants when- Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Hello, Captain?" Tigress gasped, regaining her senses. Her eyes were wide with shock, but she dared not move. Tai Lung snapped his head towards the door and scowled as if he could see right through it. He didn't move for a moment, contemplating the situation. And then, suddenly, he released her. Pulling her shirt down, she was quick to move away from him, which annoyed Tai Lung slightly.

Opening the door quickly, he narrowed his eyes. It was those two mongrels with that bull from earlier. The red dog began to speak. "Captain," he chuckled nervously. "We just wan' id t' say sorry for what ap' end with what we said about the young tiger lady."

The black dog nodded in agreement. "And we also want you to know that we said nothing in same subject about her as he did." Tai Lung seethed. Being proactive would do them no good. The longer he listened, the more angered he was by their presence. His throat rumbled in the form of a primeval growl; it's noise showed how plain his rage was growing. To be brutally honest, he didn't gave a shit why they had interupted.

They glanced at each other, wide-eyed. They knew they had upset him again, which was the opposite of what they were trying to do. "WE'RE SORRY!"

Oddly, Tai Lung seemed to calm instantly. "You two, what are your names?"

They looked at one another in confusion. "Dai." "Dan."

He placed his hands on their shoulders and spoke lowly. "Well, fellas." His grip on their shoulders tightened, making them flinch. "If you value that which separates you from the opposed gender, then I suggest you get the out my sight. NOW!" His voice became darker as he neared the end. He shouted, and with that, they ran off. Idiots. He would deal with them soon enough. He sighed in consternation. Before he'd be dealing with them would take a while.

Tigress had recovered enough to listen to his short talk with them and managed to make sense of the whole thing, but decided to ask him to make sure. "... What were they talking about?" Also something he didn't want to deal with.

He had almost forgotten she was there. He spoke, but did not turn to her. "You already know what they were talking about."

"So that's why you were angry, because what he said was about me," she said in realization. He side-glanced and noticed emotions flicker behind her red amber eyes, but couldn't pick up on what they were. She didn't know what to make of it; he was so twisted. To be displeased with someone for speaking ill of her. Why would he care? And then this? The fact that he did filled her with so many different emotions, she couldn't keep track. She could not understand him.

"Yes," he said simply.

She didn't really want to know, but she had to ask. She actually felt greatful towards them; they had indirectly stopped- or postponed- what he was going to do to her. "What did he say about me?"

He frowned at her, not answering, then opened the door and motioned her to go through. At first, she hesitated, but then rushed past him, making her unease all too obvious. This time he did not touch her.

* * *

They had returned to his cabin without a word. She had her back to him, but could hear him quietly close the door. Then he began making his way towards her. She swallowed the fear that was building quickly the closer he came to her. She found that she was frozen, unable to move because of it. His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her against him, then moved to kiss her neck. She placed her hand on his arm and tried to move away. He sighed loudly, making his annoyance known.

"Why resist when you know you want this?" he whispered in her ear.

"Don't do this to me," she pleaded, her voice trying hard not to break. She still resisted, which angered him. He could practically smell how much she wanted it, but she still said no?

Tai Lung scowled behind her. Why should he listen to her? He could take her if he desired- in fact, why hadn't he before done so before? He could take her whenever he wanted, and he wanted her right now. He allowed his dark thoughts to continue and felt his hands move further down, then felt her stiffen. He looked at her face, seeing the fear she was trying desperately to hide, but failing miserably. He was scaring her. He couldn't let himself do it; he didn't want her to be scared of him. Forcing himself to stop, he removed his hands from her. Almost forcefully Tai Lung moved off her.

Tai Lung's eyes were set on the ground thoughtfully. "You are afraid." It wasn't a question.

Her eyes widened. "No!" Her face was suddenly filled with rage as she spun around at him. Tai Lung wasn't surprised that she was quick to deny it, but he could tell when someone was lying.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. Everybody is afraid of me," he said almost factly.

"I am not afraid," she growled.

He stared at her blankly, then lurched forward a step. To someone without a keen eye, she would have appeared to have not reacted to this and had shown no fear. But Tai Lung saw the slight shift of her eyes, and could even feel the heightening of her heartbeat like thunder. She was afraid, and he knew it.

He couldn't fathom why, but he was trying to be nice to her- or at least, as nice as he could be. He found it unsettling to treat her delicately, but this time her fears were undesired. He could not be this way with her; it was something he just didn't do, something Tai Lung would never do. He had to keep up appearances, for his reputation at least. His eyes travelled from her head to toe. She was distressed and afraid, and he felt compelled to stop because he was the cause of her fears. It made Tai Lung feel... guilt, an emotion he despised passionately. He'd had enough guilt for several life times. 'Yet again, things are becoming less simple.' He had no reason to feel guilty; it was completely obscure.

Finally he spoke, but he did retort, he had decided something. "Fine." She turned to him, surprised yet relieved at the same time- although it seemed a little suspicious because he had sounded a little strained. "I won't kiss you again." Then his tone changed into something else. "Until you give me permission." Until... Was he that certain? Not likely. After all, that he'd simply stop was disbelieving.

He could see she wasn't convinced.

"You're... not lying?" she asked. She wore a guarded look; she knew it wasn't that simple.

His face didn't change. "I do not lie. But if that is not enough, I give my word." He didn't do so lightly, but she needed reassurance. He had surprised himself by letting her go again. He'd never been one to take no for an answer, but his own actions had caught him off guard. He was conflicted between two sides, and now one of them was winning.

She had no idea what to do. Tai Lung hadn't lied to her yet, so she would just have to take it. "Alright, and I'll hold you to it," she said seriously. To make their agreement seem more real she spoke the words with as much behest as possible. It would not happen again if she could help it.

"Glad we have that sorted, now you should get some rest. I'll wake you when we reach our destination." She could have gawked. He seemed to have completely reverted demeanor to his calm, arrogant indifference in just a moment. How could he so easily brush off all that happened moments ago? It made him very hard to read, and also annoyed her a great deal. She could only guess what he was thinking, but she was slowly getting a better understanding of how he acted, even if it was vague.

She knew the longer she stayed with him, the more complicated things would get. When they arrived, she'd need to find a way home before she would end up doing something she'd regret.

She frowned at him. "Singapore?"

He smiled. "Singapore."

* * *

Quite hot I think but I tried to add a bit of a psychological side to. Will Tai lung stay true to his word and how will Shifu retaliate? Find out soon.

**Chinese** - **English**

Dan "Black".

Dai "Red".


	6. Chapter 6

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: The chapter is called Lion city because it is what Singapore means despite there being no Lion's in Singapore, please don't ask me why._

_Thank you to: **Annie**, **Shoujokrm26**, **Magnolialioness**, **Monica **I'm glad you enjoy reading, your comments are what keep me motivated._

* * *

**Lion city**

When they had arrived close to port Tai lung had quietly awoken her to tell her that they had arrived. She was hesitant for a moment, thinking he would try something, but as soon as he told her, he moved away and went back on deck leaving her slightly bewildered. It seemed he was keeping to his word... which she was thankful for. Getting out of bed she stretched her limbs then looked towards the door.

Walking out on the sun deck she instantly noticed the port in the distance. She saw how the Malaysian architecture was quite the same as china's; apart from the odd building that stood out further behind the more visible ones, it had a roof in the shaped like a dome. Turning her view back to the ship, she saw Tai lung standing at the helm with his eyes set on her. How long had he been watching her? She'd bet the moment since she had come out. His expression was unreadable, which made her wish she knew what he was going through his head, but his stare was starting to make her self-conscious so she tried to ignore him. He must have realized what she was trying to do because she caught him smile.

The weather was different. The area was covered with a thin layer of fog so no one could not see so far beyond it, beside shapes and the hazy sun giving the atmosphere it's heat. It was both warm and wet. Most of the crew had removed they're shirts even Tai lung was wearing his shirt opened, which she had not failed to notice. She had never noticed such things in the past but she couldn't force her eyes to avoid him.

Tigress sighed and hugged her chest self-consciously. It was probably best if she didn't ignore him. Standing straight she began to make her way towards him.

He had his eyes set on the door for at least five minutes, forgetting that the port was only a short distance away. Eventually the crew started giving him odd looks, wondering why they were running free, but he paid them no attention. Then finally the door opened and she emerged, there were so many different emotions that flowed through him at the sight of her and all of them unsettled him. But he didn't let it show, he just continued to watch. Tai lung had deducted that although the lust was almost... unbearable. What he felt towards her was differen't in some way otherwise he would have been able to g- He just knew that there was something... more. He stared at her as she made her way towards him. She knew he was was staring he could tell, but his concentration was suddenly broken "Ser!"

Tai lung looked over his shoulder scowling. "Wha-" but he saw no one he made a noise of confusion then felt a tap at his leg and looked down Xiaodan stared up grinning cheekily at him. He found himself grinning back. The boy's attitude was contagious. Instead getting irritated at his lack of awareness, he was impressed that he'd gotten near him without Tai Lung knowing. He noticed he wasn't wearing his hat otherwise he probably would have seen him as soon as he turned around. "What can I do for you, boy?" Tai lung asked.

The boys grin suddenly vanished and turned into a look of almost offence, as if he was insulted. It seemed he said something to annoy him "I'M not a boy," he told Tai Lung critically. "I'M A MAN!" he said pointing his thumb at himself. Tai lung raised his brow, but smirked at him. Xiaodan only wanted his attention. Tai lung considered mocking him, but they had this conversation before. He was tired of arguing with the boy about it, so he decided to play along.

"Oh, really? My apologies, Ser. I meant not offence. Yes! I can see, you are quite the old man," Tai lung said sarcastically. "How old are you...? Seventy, I'd guess?" He was lying, knew how old the boy was.

Xiaodan snickered at him and shook his head "No, captain. I'm seven."

Tai lung smiled at the cub. "Yes, as I said! seventy."

The boy laughed. "NO! Seven!"

Tai lung nodded, in agreement "Yes. Seventy." This time Xiaodan gave up and started laughing loudly. Tai lung smiled at the boy, both had failed to notice the spectator.

"Bonding?"

They turned to Tigress whose arms arms were crossed, but appeared to have a look of amusement in her eyes. She seen the whole thing, and did not expect for Tai lung to act so... so- hmph! For a moment she pictured the type of person who would steal a child's treats out of mere spite, which was silly because she knew that was the very least he was capable of. She was attempting to avoid thinking about it. She was always careful, as any warrior should be. Not that she was eager to get to know Tai Lung's _other_ qualities, but she observed. Tai lung was a mystery, there were many aspects about him he kept hidden. She supposed knowing that in itself; she now knew something new about him. She could easily see the child was fond of Tai lung, despite it being a little hard to believe. And she could also tell he meant something to the snow leopard, though she would bet he'd never admit it.

Tai lung's smiled turned more concealed. She couldn't guess whether it was for his benefit or her's. "Well yes, I suppose we are, but seeing as your here I thought you and I might do some bonding later. It wouldn't be quite the same as this." And she already regreted opening her mouth.

Xiaodan looked at him oddly "What type of Bonding is it, Ser?" Tai lung raised a brow at the question.

"It something you're a bit young to understand just yet," he replied but the cub didn't look like he would let it go just yet.

"You said... I was seventy?" he accused pointing at him. Tigress smirked, the boy was playing with him. The look on Tai lung's face showed that he was obviously not expecting a comeback.

Surprising her, he began to stammer. "-! Mmm...?" He even looked at her who he saw was quite amused by how the child had put him in a predicament, but she did nothing to help out, only continued to look on in amusement. She decided to watch this play out. It wasn't everyday she'd get to witness Tai Lung without a comeback.

"Yes- Mmm.. well- Where's your hat?"

The cub didn't seem understand what he was asking but answered anyway. "I left it down deck."

"I think you should find it...! Before it gets lost... forever!" Tai lung said feigning worry, the boy started looked worried too. He nodded urgently he then ran off to find it.

She had to admit she was impressed he got out of that situation. She doubted that he had much experience with children or being out-witted by one "I believe I saw a child almost outwit the mightly_ Tai lung._" Tigress said mockingly. It was quite entertaining, even if was for only a moment, though she doubted Tai lung would feel that way.

He huffed at her. "I don't think you give him enough credit. He's can be guible at times, but he's a smart lad. You should also know, socialising with _seventy_ year old children just happens to be my weak point, besides he did show you his potential yesterday." He was bring up that up again. Tigress had not even consider he would hit the apple- the shot was impossible for a child.

She rolled her eyes at him "You don't expect me to believe you _knew_ he'd hit it?"

He had orginally planned to intimidate to bull not out-right kill him, but she came along and made it worse. He had complete faith that Xiaodan knew what he was doing... Well faith enough to believe that the boy's shot would have been a mile off. He wouldn't reveal that bit. "You don't actually think I would have let the boy kill someone?" he retorted. But quite honestly she didn't know if he would... Her expression told him exactly what she thought.

Tai Lung frowned. "Fine, you can believe what you want."

She Hmph-ed, like hell he would know something like that.

* * *

When the ship had made port only her and Tai lung were to leave, while the ship was left in Hong's capable hands. The two of them walked down the boarding ramp and Tai lung paid an Indochinese tiger fellow to keep the ship there until they would leave. He led her toward the end of the dock where there were many gondola's lined up waiting for customers, Tai lung got in a one of them and motioned for Tigress to get in with him the driver was crocodile and Tai lung spoke to him in a language she didn't understand but she saw the croc nod at Tai lung then he began to row. The roads of the city were canal's which fascinated Tigress she had never seen anything like this before many networks of water roads spread around the city it was something new to her.

Tigress had wanted to stay behind at first telling him she had no desire to see anything in this place but Tai lung refused to let her saying that she would not be allowed to sulk on the ship until he came back. She would stay where he could keep an eye on her.

She observed that there were other gondola's around them with people selling all sorts of different items on them, food, jewellery and other legitimate things. It was like an on sea market. She turned her attention to Tai lung who stared ahead absently. She may as well ask some questions "Where are we going?"

Tai lung turned to her. "We are paying a visit to Raja. A friend of mine whom lives in area. He's of nobility, and will be able to provide me with what I need," he explained. "As for when we'll be there, just take the time to enjoy the scenery," he told her before she could ask.

So she did.

She found herself feeling absentminded, and speaking her thoughts out loud. "I've never been outside of china before," she told him. And it was true she had never left China. Infact, she'd never took one day away from training or serving the valley. "I was always curious about what was beyond it, but I never had the chance to even catch glimpse of life beyond the valley".

Tai lung watched her intently, he did not know that. Of course he knew what a life of duty was like. He'd spent half of his own in the same position as her's: fighting to protect the valley from danger. The other half had been taken from him when he had been put in prison.

"Perhaps that might change," he said quietly. She did not hear.

* * *

The croc had informed Tai lung that their destination was right ahead. Tigress looked forward and saw a huge residence that appeared to be held above the water by massive beams. She was amazed that such a large building could be built above water this way. The croc tied the gondola and Tai lung jumped up on to the pier that stretched out from the entrance. He turned to Tigress and offered his hand to her. She looked at his face checking for any kind of trick, but he was blank. Reluctantly she allowed herself to take it. He took her hand but pulled her up a little too hard and she landed in his chest she paused for moment in nervousness, but then innocently Tai lung back away and she saw his expression was still blank, he motioned with his hand for her to move on her eyes shifted then she hastily moved past him and did not see him smirk from behind her.

"What do you think?" he asked as he walked next to her.

She realized he was referring to the place on front of her. She looked around gathering an opinion of it. Everything about it boasted of grandeur but why have such a nice place when it was so far out of sight from the main part of the city "It's nice, it boasts well being so isolated, the place is... very beautiful," she said evenly, but Tai lung did not miss the blatant sarcasm. He chuckled at her.

"Yes, most of the upper class that live here prefer isolation. After all, having more power means one has more enemies," Tai lung explained prudently. "You'd be surprised at how many people would try to make a name for them self at your expense, especially when you are known for your prowess as warrior," he added.

Tigress snorted. "Not that surprising, actually."

She was very familiar with the concept. Warriors coming from afar for all sorts of different ends to see if they could defeat the great masters and be remembered as legends- by defeating legends. But hardly ever did any of them actually pose a real challenge. Yes, she to must have had her fair share of challenger's he guessed. He remembered once upon a time when he was the hero. He faced so many foes... even small armies had engaged him, but like all the rest Tai lung had eliminated them.

His most recent battle with the panda had been somewhat disapointing. In the sense that the Panda had posed much less of challenge than he had the first time round. With that being considered, even though he hadn't killed him, he'd admit that he quite enjoyed squashing out the fat boy's arrogance... it was highly misplaced, and it was not present the during their first battle. Tai Lung frowned briefly. In their first battle he had been defeat... thouroughly- though luckly not killed. The whole idea of it ate at him. The thought of someone of greater power than him was like taking a knife to the back.

In the beginning, Tai lung had nothing, not even a true _name_, and it stayed that way until he'd become a man. Then finally, after years training, _clawing_, he had nothing _except_ the knowledge that he was the strongest, and to have that taken was unthinkable. For a time he contemplated giving in to the obscure feeling of being brought back down to a no mark, but then the Panda reappeared, and his anger quickly won over. His pride was a fire, all consuming, and for pride's sake alone Tai Lung attacked. When they fought again he had to question how he had lost in the first place... The second time had been different, and from what he could tell the Panda wasn't as unpredictedable as he was the first time.

He recalled his last thoughts just before the Wushi finger hold had taken him. It was that scroll, the whole time it had been as he had been, nothing. It was a strange acceptance that he would never have what he wanted. He had looked back and think on why he wanted the scroll, but he could find no reason to want it, not after his defeat. He tried looking on the bright side, having seemingly died cut off his last real tie to that life... It left him free... however pathetic it appeared.

They reach a gate way and saw an eagle perched imposingly on top seemingly guarding it. It narrowed it eyes at them but not in an offensive manner, it was actually just taking a look at them. It jumped down and glided toward the two of them. He must have recognized Tai lung because he bowed and ordered for the gate to be opened Tai lung spared him a small nod then took her through.

Tai lung walked her down a path lead to a huge court yard then proceeded to push the huge door's open into the manor.

They were greeted by a _large_ cobra- no not large, he was stupendous for a snake of his kind. She could only guess him to be this, Raja. His skin tone was simple black but shone slightly giving a good idea on how smooth he was. His under belly harbored an exotic pattern coloured in a dusty white rimmed with faint yellow. This serpent flatten himself and rose up to his full high which was almost her own she realized. His eyes were deep vermillion predatory slits and the scales on his head were large plate unlike most snakes. To put it lightly he was an imposing specimen... not quite on the level of Tai lung, but held himself just as proudly.

The Cobra smiled at Tai lung. Tigress was confused for moment... everything Tai Lung had said about his friend was truthful, which wasn't unexpected, but what really took her off guard was the snake's smile. It was earnest... he was actually happy to see Tai Lung. "Welcome péng yǒu, its... good to see you again." his voice was raspy and quite low. He gave off the impression that he was old. She was surprised he spoke the same language as them, everyone she'd heard here thus far had all spoken their native tongue. It relieved her to know that she would possibly be able to communicate with someone other than Tai lung while she was here.

Tai lung returned his smile. "And you as well, Raja." Then the snake's gaze turned on her.

"Who is thiss—?" he asked curiously. The snake moved closer to her, his eyes ran her over as if he was doing an examination, or he was sizing her up.

Tai lung turned to her with smirk ."This is 'Master Tigress' of the Jade palace, she's a companion aboard my ship." Tigress was pleased he was respectful enough to refer to her formally, but she could have growled at the next part... 'Companion, he mean's prisoner!' She told the cobra mentally.

Raja smiled at her, and leaned forward a little. "Welcome to my home, Master," he said bowing slightly. He showed nothing but respect. Tigress could have blushed at how he referred to her.

She bowed back at him. "Thank you, but please call me Tigress."

"Then you may call me Raja," he replied politely, she nodded to him.

He turned his gaze slowly back to Tai lung who observed their greeting with amusement. He spoke again only his tone had left it's formality and he now sounded much more gregarious. "So, this obviously isn't a social call. What can I do for you this time?"

Tai lung explained. "My store. It's empty of... well almost everything, I would ask you to fill it for me... I'll pay of course," he added at the end.

Raja nodded then tilted his head slightly "It is likely I can give what you seek, but why not stay for a while? You should take some time away from that ship of yours. You and your friend will enjoy it," he told them. Tai lung contemplated this, they were in no rush and the ship could last for at least one more week.

"We would be happy to stay for while." Tigress looked slightly put off by this, Tai lung could see it.

"Excellent! It will be interesting to hear of what you've been up to since I'd last seen you."

"Of course, in good time, but I'd like my usual room," Tai lung said to the snake. He then added, although none of them caught the conflicting edge in his voice. "And...Tigress will require he own room." This surprised her a great deal. At first Raja looked curious, then he had a smirk on his face. His forked tongue flicked out a moment. Tigress thought it quite odd that he allowed her such freedom, but she managed to hide it from showing on face.

"... She may share with my daughter if wishes, but I do not have any spare rooms without men in them currently. I'm sure she would enjoy the company." He turned his eyes back on Tigress.

Tai lung turned to her "With me or his nǚér," he said simply. She already knew what she would do this was not an opportunity she could pass up it could be her only chance of escape.

Tigress looked thoughtful "I would like to meet her." Tai lung's face was unreadable, but Raja could hardly contain his broad grin. He obviously found alleviation in something the both of them did not.

"Good then it is settled."

* * *

Tigress' first impression of what a friend of Tai lung's would be like had been quite off the mark. Well sort of the snake had been intimating in appearance but was a genuinely kind man it seemed, although if she guessed he was probably very dangerous if threaten he towered over his own kind she could easily see and he was a noble which gave a lot of power in the area. She had been led to his daughter's living quarter's which were significantly larger than many of the others in the estate though it wasn't hard to guess why naturally hers would be much larger than the guest rooms.

Tai lung decided to wait outside which she found odd, he was giving her more space but she didn't know why? What she feared from him was not necessarily how he made her feel but if she allowed him too he would use her, have his way with her and be done with it. She just couldn't deal with that, what if she let herself care for him and he rejected her? She would end up becoming even more withdrawn, she felt like she had been used her whole life an object for one's own purposes but never anyone for her. Nobody wanting her it was something she dreaded and only added to the loneliness she already felt.

"Who is this father?" the much younger snake asked. Tigress estimated her to still be about eighteen maybe even younger. She much like her father expect her colours where almost inverted to his she was a light orange almost yellow and her exotic patterns were black, and she a lot smaller then he in fact probably less than half his size.

"Tai lung has brought her with him as his guest, which means she is also ours. This is Master Tigress whom has come all the way from china." his daughter gave what looked like an 'Oh' then turned to her.

"Hello Master, it's nice to a have new guest here," she greeted politely.

"Please just Tigress will be fine," she told the youth like she had her father.

She nodded and smiled kindly at Tigress. "I'm Nisa!"

He then explained why the two of them were here and got to the part of her needing a place to sleep "The two of them will be staying for a while and Tigress needs a place to liv-"

Knowing where he was going with this, she quickly him cut off. "Say no more, she stay with me." Tigress nodded and smiled gratefully at her.

She was about to say something but noticed her father was still there "You can go now father." Nisa told him and with a nod he left the two of them. She turned to Tigress smiling mischievously. "So tell me, what did you do get stuck with Tai lung then?"

Tai lung was leaning cross armed against the wall when Raja came out. Truthfully, after last night when he'd asserted him self near her, he knew that he was doing this entirely for her benefit. If he would attempt to get close to her in any way he knew she would become wary. So it would help to give her some room. In their last encounter he had gotten so close to her... but then something had gotten in the way. It seemed that each time they got close there was an interruption or some prevention that forced him to stop. He would admit, although not out loud that it was his desire for to feel at ease when near him, which was holding him back. He knew that was what he wanted. He had considered that she would try to run away but she would have some problems with them being on an island home surrounded by water so he didn't have to worry in that regard.

"So, I see you've been busy," Raja said thoughtfully.

Tai lung looked up curiously, indicating he didn't know what he was talking about "Hmm?"

"Keeping that young girl with you. What have you been doing Tai lung?" he asked the curiousness practically pouring off him.

Tai lung narrowed his eyes. He didn't want him to get the wrong impression so he explained. "She is my prisoner. Her band of heroes had tried to defeat me in Hong Kong, but I dealt with them," he informed the snake. It wasn't his or anyone's business, but he felt a little defensive which was odd for him, it wasn't as if he was hiding anything.

The snake looked confused "Prisoner? What happen to her being your companion?" he asked in an almost coy like tone.

"She is, but I'm not letting her leave," Tai lung said but his voice revealed no emotion.

Raja raised his eyes in confusion. "Why keep her?"

Why? Because he could that's why, though he should not have. Things would probably get more complicated the longer he kept her. The masters of the jade palace would come for her eventually if they happen to show up earlier than expect he's dump her off with them then and there would no problem, but then thing were never that simple... "She was injured and incapable of leaving at the time, I didn't want to wait."

"But you could have gone to the next port in china and left her there, you don't deny?" he asked smirking. He might have asked if Tai lung had attempted to fraternize with this Tigress, but he could already tell that he had. Why would Tai Lung keep unless she was too appealing for the Snow leopard to resist. He could easily see the tension between both of them. That was probably the reason Tai Lung had suggested seperate living arrangements... but it was also odd.

Tai lung frowned. "I asked for supplies," he said, quietly changing the subject.

"Of course," the snake replied coyly.

He was about say more but before he could the two of them heard sounds of running down the hall. Turning their heads they saw a pair of guards rushing towards them a lion and a tiger and both were panting heavily which meant they had probably ran all the way here the two looked frantic like something terrible had happened. Tai lung regarded them curiously wondering what the problem was but Raja looked a little miffed by their interruption "*Pant*...S...sir" they managed to make out through the heavy breath's, then Raja began to speak.

"What is it?" he asked strictly.

"Were... under attack" the lion finally said.

His eyes widened "What?"

The two looked down shamefully "...Th...they have gotten inside sir we couldn't hold them off. The rest of the men are doing what they can but they caught us by surprise!" The two appeared to be very disappoint at their inability to protect this place and looked as though they were giving up.

Raja scowled to himself, then turned his eyes back on them "Both stay outside this door let no one in or out, do you understand?" his tone left no room for lenience.

The two seemed to regain vigour at his command "Yes sir!" they both shouted taking position outside the door.

Raja turned to Tai lung with a serious look on his face "Help me with this and we can forget about expenses"

Tai lung grinned. Yes, it was quite an attractive proportion it would also be more fun this way "Certainly," was his reply.

* * *

Tigress had just finished explaining the concise story of how she been taken by tai lung up to now, only her version had basically left out every _little_ detail. Nisa looked slightly disappointed like she was expected more, but Tigress did not divulge anything. She found that Nisa was a pleasant young girl, and had been nothing but nice to her so far. But her prying towards how she'd gotten here was somewhat annoying.

"That's it?" Nisa said pouty tone. She had wanted hear something better than that, the whole setting were a captain kidnaps a women and takes her out to sea just seemed like the perfect scenario for love story, certainly not what she envisioned.

"Yes."

"Well that not very romantic," Tigress shrugged while trying contain the snarl at the Back of her throat. She hated the implications, but she couldn't deny them.

"Are you sure you didn't leave anything out?" she asked hopefully. Nisa was starting to remind her of Viper more and more. Her addiction to those false romantic tales... Tigress could have scoffed at the very idea. This was real, and awful.

"Yes," she said again only her tone was a little tighter, she didn't usually resort to lying, but the subject made her too uncomfortable.

Nisa finally seemed to notice that her questions were bothersome, so she stopped asking them. It did seem that she was keeping something out of her story, it was probably the best part too! But she wouldn't pry... unless it was discreetly. "I think we'll go outside now." she said suddenly.

Tigress looked at her in confusion how could they go outside they were surrounded by water? "What?"

"Out-side, as in not in here" she said as if it was obvious.

Tigress frowned "I know what you mean, I just didn't think you could go outside, being in this place." The whole structure was held up by huge stone pillars and the only land that they could go to was far off here.

"We have a very large garden you' know." That would be something to see. It was obvious engineered and not natural. She didn't need to guess about that, but she would have preferred her suggestion involving leaving the estate... it would have been easier to make a run for it, but she would have to wait for the right moment.

"You don't ever leave here?" it made the structure seem like more of prison than a protective fortress.

"It's not safe according to father, there are people outside that would hurt me to get to him, well that's what he said" Tai lung had mentioned about the enemies that came with power, but she didn't expect that such extreme safety measures would need to be taken. The idea wasn't unheard of, but attacking the one you love to get to you was an act of cowardice. She wonder what type of people they were. Such scum did not deserve mercy, although it brought the question what did he do to get that type of attention "Let's go" she said bring her out of her thought's Tigress nodded and followed behind.

They stepped out the room and were greeted by a lion and tiger standing at either side they blocked the path preventing them from going past "We're sorry miss, but your father has ordered us to confine you here until the situation has been dealt with, for your own protection." They stood by each other blocking the way.

Nisa suddenly looked irritated. "What situation, what are you talking about?" Tigress stood behind her glowering at the two of them.

The two guards looked at each other for a moment, as if silently deciding if they should be telling them "We have intruder's invading. The master, and I think Tai lung are dealing with it."

This caught tigress's attention "Tai lung?"

"Yes, he has likely gone to the courtyard were the ruckus is." After they told her the guards still made no move to get out of the way.

She narrowed her eyes at the two of them. "Move" Tigress said as she shoved past the two of them knocking them down their expressions were filled with surprise they had no idea she had that much strength. She turned to Nisa "Which way is they courtyard?" Tigress felt a strange need to see if it was being handled when they said Tai lung was helping, perhaps it was nothing but she decided she would not ignore it.

"The way you came" she nodded and ran off.

Nisa looked at the two guards picking themselves up and snickered "Real Good job boys!" Then she followed Tigress.

* * *

Shifu stood before his newest benefactor. An eerie aura had set in the atmosphere... but he wasn't to concerned with the vibe here, his mind was occupied with an entirely different matter. He knew that to stop Tai lung one would need the smartest and most cunning allies he could find, and these allies would also have to be able to hold their own against the- demon of the valley. But how could one find the best, when the opposition was the best; even with the emperor's army behind him Shifu would still be wary of Tai lung.

How? How could he have endured the Wu shi finger hold and still be alive. It simply could not be done, not even Tai lung with his reputation should have survived and the most frightening thing of all was... he had. Was he afraid? Was he... relieved? Yes, even after everything he still felt for Tai Lung. He did not know how to react at first but when he when had finished meditating on the best course of action, he decided he would save Tigress before anything else. After that he just didn't know.

"It's a deal, I help get your student, and I eliminate Tai lung." Shifu was clearly unconvinced. He had his doubts that anything could over power his so- former student.

The speaker was covered in shadow and could not be seen, but Shifu did not need to see to know what he looked like. Shifu had for a second, just a brief second considered that Tai lung may be civil but he knew as soon as those golden eyes saw him civility would go out the window. He did not want to do this, but if it was the only way then... so be it.

"How do you _know_ you can do it? I'm afraid I don't share your certainty."

The benefactor chuckled and leaned forward, now Shifu could see him. "I held the monster for_ twenty years_. We both why he escaped..." he mumbled something about a goose "- that's on you. As I held Tai Lung before, I can just as easily END him!" His voice had not a single hint of doubt.

Shifu's eyes widened at the man into front of him, he... took it back. Now he knew what he looked like.

* * *

_I think you know who the stranger is YOU. MUST. **REVIEW! **_

**Pinyin Chinese**

"péng yǒu" - "friend".

"nǚér" - "daughter".

**Indonesian language**

Raja - "King". since Malaysia is in Indonesia.

Nisa - "Unknown". I just basically liked the sound of it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ailurophile**

_Author note_: _It been a while since my last update. But I've had a lot to do, and things happened which made it more difficult for me to carry on writing, but now I'm back! And I'll been give you more chapters soon enough. _

**_Magnolialioness_**_,** Monica**,** Shoujokrm26**, **Bellathewhitetigress**, **Star88303**,** ABC123**,** Mind Assassin**,** lily ann**, **PHYSCHOCHIC3**,** Shadowess 88 **Thank you for your reviews and also thank you to everyone whose favourite my story as well you guys are great too**.**_

**Warning contains - Violence, Death, **nothing major; well at least nothing I would approximate as major**.**

* * *

**Enemy at the Gates**

Tai lung had arrived at the front gates, which were practically held shut only by what was left of the palace guards. He could count less than thirty able to stand and a few off at the side being too injured to help out. Together, they all forced themselves against the gate while the other side was being rammed. The atmosphere was a frantic state. They looked like they were in terrible condition, but they still persisted, which was brave, he'd give them at least that- but he knew it wouldn't last. They were taking a beating. Raja moved next him seriousness written on his face, he eyed the gates grimly. Tai lung somehow got the idea that Raja knew intimately exactly what was on the other side of those gates. The snake turned to Tai lung "There is another way around, a secret passage. We will be able to ambush them from there."

Tai lung nodded; although he would have preferred to attack head on it would just cause more damage and waste more of Raja's men which he knew would not please the cobra a whole lot. He was aware that Raja had another plan probably one that would cause the least amount of blood shed on his own side. Sometimes Tai lung wondered why he bothered with such tactics they were unnecessary he had already lost many lives, putting your own life in harm's way for people you hardly even know was a practice only the virtuous followed, he used to be the same but the life involved nothing but giving everything and taking nothing; In his case losing everything.

Another boom resounded around them all the guards staggered back a few inches then forced them self's back against the gate, the snow leopard had always taken pride in his great strength he knew that he could have single handily held that gate on his own but it was brutally obvious that the Raja's guard had been defeated at the look of them they would likely all die if they were to go and fight now, they should move quickly.

He turned to the snake. "Let's not waste any more time!"

Raja nodded once and turned to one of the injured guards, he was charcoal grey furred wolf, bandaging his wounded crimson stained arm "How long will they hold?" Raja's anxiousness was far too obvious. Tai lung hadn't really paid much attention to his mood until now and he just realised that the serpent was nervous. He couldn't blame him considering what the he had to loss.

The guard looked up groggily and frowned "Ten minutes maybe a bit longer, but sir once they break through we've lost," he finished shaking his head.

"It's more than enough," He said firmly as a half attempt at hightening the wolf's vigour, which seemed to work if only a little.

He moved to the far end of the room and eyed one section of the wall which appeared no different to rest of the wall, Tai lung watched with interest as he brushed a coil on it he appeared to be looking something that didn't look like it was there then the snake paused pushing his coil into the wall he moved back slight and the wall began the move on its own dust seeped out as the it split into two half's leaving an opening. Tai lung hummed quietly in what sounded like admiration. Raja rushed through without a word with Tai lung following.

"Very nice," Tai lung complimented.

"It has it uses."

The door closed by itself as soon as they passed through. Raja led him through a series of catacombs with almost no light, but it did nothing to stop them their eyes adjusted easily, and Tai lung got a full view of his surroundings. He had not known this place existed, Raja must have have thought it unimportant. He did mention it was built with many secret passages, but this was the first time he had ever been in one of them. It was filled with old broken vases and pots, likely for storage a long time ago, but he didn't have the time to put much into it. Eventually they found themselves reaching the end; there was an tattered wood door that looked like it would give out at any moment this told Tai Lung that the exit had not been used for many years. Raja tried opening it but the door would not budge without breaking so instead he resorted to simply ramming through it.

Their eyes adjusted to the immediate light of day when they exited the catacombs, and moved on to a balcony. The walk area stretched all the way across the wall until it reached the end corner of the entire structure he was surprised how unnoticeable it was.

Tai lung looked around at the dark, dusty place. He became curious even more. "This is out-of-the-way, wouldn't you agree?"

Raja shrugged "It is very old, and there would be no way of making improvements, I'm afraid."

As they were moving Tai lung watched Raja. The serpent hadn't mentioned even once just who was trying to take over. He did have his own theories about this attack, but he'd have to confirm it later. "You didn't tell me who we are fighting?"

"Does it make a difference?" Raja muttered.

"No. But I'm in deep suspense- just wondering who wants you dead," he quipped. Raja did not answer.

His friend was evading, his attempts at getting to know who the intruders were weren't working, and Tai lung was beginning to get tired of being subtle. He frowned but didn't ask again.

Once they had gotten to the edge he turned to the snow leopard. "This is where we climb."

He looked at the wall. It was fairly coarse, at least it had some grip. Tai lung extended his arm to the snake, to which Raja climbed up on, and then he jumped high and dug his claws into the wall.

* * *

Tigress was sprinting full speed- on all fours down the halls of the floating palace- while Nisa had secured herself around Tigress's waist; eventually she had gotten too fast for the snake to follow so she let her climb on her body so that she'd be able to move as fast as possible without leaving her behind. She would have left her at her room but the girl insisted on going along, from how easily she took down her bodyguards she didn't want to risk her getting hurt when she could protect the snake personally with no problem at all.

"So what are we gonna' do when we get there?" Nisa questioned.

"What I will do is prevent this place from being taken by invaders. You are going to stay safe which at this moment the safest place here is with me."

Nisa pouted. "I can help!"

Tigress did not look at her as she spoke, she continued sprinting. "You're father would not be happy with you putting yourself in danger I think."

Nisa huffed to herself, then suddenly looked mad as if she had more to say. "It almost like being a prisoner, ya know. He never lets me doing anything, or go outside, or have fun, this is the most interest day I've probably ever had in my life1"

Tigress furrowed her brow. "Maybe so, but I can't do anything about that. Your father only wants to protect you, there are things in the outside world that aren't nice." She could vouch for that, being a Kung Fu warrior she'd seen almost every kind evil there was to see out there, and evil could take many strange shapes.

The snake seemed to take in what she said but still looked annoyed "I bet your father lets you do what you want..."

"I... not exactly, I was brought up strictly I followed the rules." That put her off slightly, but nobody had ever put that out to her before. Did Shifu let her do what she wanted? Absolutely not. She did as she was told but that was because she had no choice. Not only did she strive to do everything possible to make Shifu proud, but she was duty bound. It also would have made him even more bitter than he already was if she stepped out of line... and she hated when his ill mood was directed at her.

"But still, at least you can travel, which is more than I can say for myself."

Tigress scoffed "Travelling isn't all it's cracked up to be, just look at me" she was the captive of the most fearsome warrior china has ever known and he was carting her round the world. Then again it hadn't been that bad maybe rough at first but she knew her situation could be hugely worse but she didn't need to ponder what could have happened.

Nisa smiled "You're seeing the all sorts of different places maybe you don't take time to stop and look."

"Maybe." She had to admit that whenever she had travelled to the other provinces, it had always been to carry out an important errand. She simply went in, did what she had to do, then left. It didn't really give her the chance to appreciate what the land had to offer. It wasn't that she took no interest in it, there were so many things to see, but she had to put her obligations above her desires that was just the way it was. It was a shame; she had spent her time thinking about the outside when instead of seeing it she was either training or actually in these places taking out a dangerous threat.

Turning the corner, the front gates were now in sight, and it looked to be in a bad way.

Tigress looked over all the injured guardsmen and spotted the eagle that let them in earlier, his right-wing had been binded, likely from being broken and she could see he had a few cuts. She guessed he'd probably have some answers about the situation, running towards him she began to question the raptor. "You! What's happened here?"

His head snapped towards her, he look annoyed at first but his expression softened somwhat when he seemed to recognise her, he also noticed Nisa wrapped around her as well then his beak seemed to frown at its ends. "We're try prevent this gate from breaking down. The master and Tai lung are currently on the other side by now. I assume that our attackers will be dealt with in time, now that they have enter the field."

Then he turned his attention to the Nisa "You should not be here Young lady, your father would have a fit if he knew you were unguarded."

She was about to answer but Tigress did it for her "She is not unguarded, she is with me."

The eagle narrowed his eyes "And you would be?"

She noticed that every guard had his eyes on her now, awaiting an answer and she'd give them one.

* * *

Tai lung stood next to Raja atop the palace roof peering down at the enemy. He could see there was many of them, but not nearly the most he'd fought at one time, not really the least either. He estimated over two hundred that were still alive, anyone else was dead and had littered their body upon the grounds of the courtyard. They hadn't left the place in very good state- the trees that were once there had been cut down, and there were many areas that were set on fire.

They had all gathered in front of the gate standing behind a huge fellow that appeared to be an elephant... He was carrying a massive metal Mace, only big enough for a giant to wield. So he was the wretch responsibly for belting the door? He was probably their leader too. He was covered in large plate armour, even his trunk had been cat, it had plates lapping down till its end, and his tusks had spiked needles protruding from it. This should have intimidated any man, but not Tai Lung.

The force consisted of mainly wolves, ox and bears he even noticed hyenas. He soon noticed something else, every single one of them bore a heraldic design on their armour. The symbol was of a yellow Moon and Star posistion next to each, back with blue. This spiked his curiosity. He wondered what this had to do with their group. He turned to Raja "That symbol. Whose mark is that?"

Raja shifted and looked anxious, and then he turned to Tai lung "That is the- symbol of Kuala lumpur," he trailed off.

Tai lung furrowed his brow in confusion "The capital of Malay. Why would THEY come here...?" Then he turned to Raja suspiciously. He needed to know what he was getting into before anything happened. If this was an attack from the capital of Malay then it could only mean his friend had done something these 'royals' didn't like, and if he got involved in this business then it would put him in a situation where he would make enemies, and this was the very reason he had left China in the first place. He turned to Raja with a indignant look. "What are you hiding?" he asked aggressively, and the snake knew exactly why.

Raja sighed. "I promise I'll tell you everything- after we've rid this place of the encroachers."

Tai lung sneered, but accept this. "Fine, but I expect answers!" he said brusquely.

"You will have them." Raja promised.

Then Tai lung turned his sights back on the invaders, it was time for introductions. He dug his claws deep into the roof and tensed his whole body. Then, in a flash movement, he catapulted himself into the centre of the warriors sending a wave of dust around him and making all those near to stagger and fall of their feet.

They all stared at the dust cloud in disarray, then one of the wolves eyed a human like shape within. He strained to see in through the dust cloud hoping to see more clearly through the haze "WHOSE THAT?" he shouted, wanting for some kind of reaction but he didn't get one. Growling he ran into the dust to attack whatever or whoever ever it was. Some of the others surrounding him so what he was intended, but weren't quick enough to stop him. "Wait don't go!" someone behind him urged but it was too late they could no longer see him.

They cringed instantly to the noise of _bone cracking_ strikes, but it didn't continue for long. Without warning something was flung on top of a hyena close by, whom was a part of the spectators in watch. Looking at the object that had land on top of him, he saw the beaten body of the wolf who was now dead. Screaming, he urgently pushed to wolf off of him and crawled away pathetically.

All of the spectators looked at one another at first in shock, but then they began to growl angrily, whoever had just done that was going to pay. One by one they ran into the haze roaring with their weapons raised to strike. Then frighteningly... one by one they were thrown out of the cloud in a beaten heap exactly like how the wolf had ended up. Then the rest of the usurpers turned to see what was happening and they all froze in fear. The haze had now vanished.

The elephant who had still been bashing at the gate noticed none of the battle until now. But then he finally seemed to realise something was wrong and took his attention from the gate. He turned to check on what had made all that noise. What he saw was a he saw snow Leopard stand atop mound made of _his soldier_s, his mouth gapped. How in hell had this happened, he was sure that they were all stand a minute ago. He barred his teeth "YOU! You did this?" he snarled at Tai lung whom had his eyes narrowed at the giant animal.

Tai lung ignored to giants words and unsheathed his claws, moving into an aggressive posture "ANYONE BRAVE ENOUGH TO DIE FIRST, STEP FORWARD!" Tai lung roared addressing all of them.

The elephant snapped him head to all the soldier surrounding him and noticed they were still in shock "WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO GET HIM!" the elephant whaled. They all obeyed and charged at Tai lung who wore a veiled smiled. The elephant commander turned back to the gate and continued bashing with full force this time.

Tai lung watched in amusement as they all charged him. It was foolish of them, did they not see how he had just dismantled all those others? 'Oh, yes. That's right none of them could see a damn thing'. They were just about the reach him but then a black hue zoomed past. His movements were almost unseeable to the untrained eye. They all froze suddenly stuck in place then began to twitch slightly before falling down, dead. "Took you're time." he said in half-hearted annoyance.

Raja give him a shrug. "You looked so happy being in the centre of the ruddle. I didn't want to ruin your moment." he explained sarcastically. Tai lung merely hmph-ed. Then both of them heard a huge crash, turning quickly, they could see the elephant had broken through gates Raja's eyes widened. Tai lung growled, and they both charged after the elephant who was now inside with the remaining force pouring inside the palace.

The elephant commander ran inside roaring, but then he stopped and looked around. He noticed instantly that there was nobody here. "What?" Where could they have all gone? Who else could have held the gate? They couldn't have all just vanished. But then he heard something further ahead looking forward he saw a lone Tigress to be exact.

"You should leave before I'm forced to make you." she told him sternly.

The elephant stared at her in disbelief... Force him to leave? His frustration grew, first that leopard and now her. He had more enough of these mó shù using tricksters! This time his rage got the better of him; he snarled and began to charge at the Tiger blindly. Tigress merely stood, motionless and unflinching as she awaited the elephant. Without hesitation, he raised his Mace high, then brought it crashing down making the ground break leaving a small crater.

He started laughing so they were just tricksters after all; he moved his hammer out of the way to see his handy work. Look at the ground he'd broken. He froze not because of what he had done no not at all, but because she wasn't there? He was sure she didn't move, he even looked at the face the hammer to see if she had gotten stuck there, she had not.

He started to turn his head in all directions in an urgency to find her, then out nowhere his face was greeted to the painful sensation of fist smacking right into it. The elephant's head flailed to the side. Tigress had appeared in the air before him and sent to elephant back a few feet but he wasn't knocked out, not yet at least. Jumping up again she threw powerful roundhouse kick at his jaw then flipped over and hammered her foot down of the elephant's head making him stagger drunkenly. He fell to his knee. The elephant appeared too dazed from taking her strikes to fight back and could no longer hold his weapon so she stopped. It was over. She walked up to the elephant to see if he was still conscious.

She walking towards him cautiously and bent down to get a better look at him. He appeared to be out. Tigress relaxed her muscles and sighed. She was about to walk away but suddenly the elephant's fist jolt towards her and grabbed her. She grunted in pain from his tight grip. Getting up the elephant brought her to face height. His expression was itched in pure rage. She was sure she could even see steam starting to escape his trunk as he huffed. "I will enjoy snapping you in two!" the elephant hissed. Then his grip tighten even more. She was sure she had stopped him. She had been certain that she calculated the force of her attacks. It should have been enough to beat him, but it seemed he was far more resistant than she had given him credit for.

Tigress gritted her teeth preventing herself from letting out any noise that indicated she was in pain. The elephant smiled sickly at her agony; he would make sure this would hurt her as much as possible. He increased his grip forcing a slight squeak but she braced and didn't make anymore noise than that. She turned her eyes on him and glared, he was obviously less than pleased by this defiance and glared back. He began to put more and more force into it.

He continued to squeeze unknown to the knowledge that a snow leopard now had him in his sights. A silver blur flew straight at the elephant. With crushing force Tai lung's foot speared right into the back of the elephant's head - in the form of a flying side kick - making him fly forward from the impact. His mouth was a gap and his grip on tigress slackened and she broke free gasping. Left with no chance to retaliate, the elephant was sent crashing into the wall by Tai lung swiftly throwing both his fists into the elephant's back in a double strike; he slumped against it seemingly dead.

Tai lung spared Tigress a look. She seemed fine, if only a little out of breath but he could nothing else wrong with her "Are you alright" he asked.

She nodded mutely.

"I've finished with the last of them." Tai lung heard Raja's voice sound from behind him; he nodded acknowledging him while continuing to watch Tigress.

Then Raja noticed that no was here, had they fled? "Where is everyone?"

"I sent them out of this room," Tigress informed him "They would have only gotten in my way; the gate breaking down seemed inevitable so I decided it was wise they were elsewhere."

Raja nodded "... And Nisa?" he seemed almost reluctant to ask.

"Safe, with them." Tigress said reassuringly.

Raja smiled gratefully "My thanks."

"Well, now that the niceties are out the way, I think we should have this place cleaned up!" Tai lung said breaking the moment.

Tigress frowned in annoyance, and Raja gave him a weary smile. "You are right, we should remove all these bodies; I'll inform the guard that they are now actually needed!" Tai lung scoffed at that.

They stood sliently for a moment, then began to head back down the hall. Tigress moved past the elephant's dead body and followed after them- But then terrifyingly- the elephant fired towards her roaring. Her eyes widened. She was about to react but then she felt a gust of wind move past her. Tai lung had appeared in front of her and had his hands gripped firmly on the elephant's tusks. Scowling, he tensed his arms, and with loud roar he jerked the elephant's head as it was a ship's helm taking a sharp turn, and snapped his neck! Even the most audacious of people would have cringed from the brazen sound. And finally it left the giant dead.

He dropped the elephant without a care. Its body hit the ground with thud, and he moved past Tigress without a word, she eyed him in astonishment as he left. He seemed almost urgent as he made leave, and she was too surprised to move. Raja eyed the body almost sympathetically. After all, the fellow did take terrible beating. He noticed Tigress was still standing close by, and didn;t seemed to know what to do with herself. "You should follow him, I doubt even he can handle tending to both injured hands without making them worse."

Tigress furrowed her brow obviously confused, then she looked at the elephant. His tusks, the spikes had blood on them. She realised Tai lung must have injured himself while taking it down- then she stormed in the direction he had left from.

Raja watched her go and sighed. Then he turned his sights to all around him. He looked distastefully at the mess of bodies and broken stone; it be a while before this place would be fully repaired.

* * *

Tai lung sat in wood chair, lone in his room. A prelit fire crackled with a pot of water had been placed above it to heated. Clumsily he gripped a bandage between his palms and pull it out with his mouth, stretching it out he attempted to wrap it around his right hand without causing any more damage. Yes unfortunately Tai lung was human, and could bleed just like anyone else, though such an announcement would never be admitted out loud. He had caused a few gashes from the little stunt he had performed... and some of them were painful.

What possessed him jump in front of her like that? If he were in third person- he would have smacked himself! It was a foolish mistake, one he could not understand. The very second he saw what going to happen he acted on impulse, as if in second nature. He jumped to her aid like it was simply something that _had_ to be done, and when he had that elephant in his grip his rage handled the rest. But, No! It was not something he had to do; it was a mistake- it must have been. Yet... deep down he knew that he _never_ made mistakes, not like that, there were a thousand different ways he could have kill that elephant yet he just threw himself in. During his escape he flawlessly aborted that glacial pit and fought _one thousand_ guards without making a single error. He scowled... this damn bandage was starting irritate him!

Snarling he slammed his fists into a table where laid a collection of surgical instruments. It give out under the force making everything fall and clatter on to the ground, his hand shook for moment in pain but he tried ignoring it.

He bent down to pick the bandage again, but someone else beat him to it. His head snapped up and his face was directly in front of hers.

Tigress thought she was angry with him at first, she could have handled that elephant on her own. But no, Tai lung had to interfere... then after thinking about it she supposed she should be grateful, after all he did help her, and she might have suffered something fatal for all she knew. It was something to think about... especially the part where Tai lung came to her aid her, and he did it at his own free will. So she supposed that she should help him too. Tigress did not flinch at the hostility behind Tai lung's eyes, instead she stared back serenely. Tai Lung's almosy childish response wa to growl, as he tried to move it away from her. She frowned. "Let me help." she could see he obviously didn't want help, but she would try none the less. She went to take his hand.

He glared at her in the hope that she would leave, but she did not, in fact she met his glare with her own... equally powerful, and they stared each other down. For some reason Tai lung found that he was the one losing, either he wasn't all in it... or she was sudden a hundred times more powerful; eventually he found he didn't have the will to carry on any longer and sighed. He leveled his gaze, and raised his hand slowly to chest level giving her permission.

Tigress took it gently and sat down in front of him crossing her legs, she eyed the wounds unfazingly. Inwardly she had to wince. It looked painful, and the blood had dried on top of his matted fur. He Hadn't done well at all patching it up.

"Is there any hot water here?" she asked. Tai lung wordlessly glanced in the direction the bowl of water had been placed over the fire choosing not to speak; Tigress got up and fetched the bowl. Siting back down she took his hand again and began to press a soaked cloth softly on the wounds. She began wiping away the blood clearing the wounds. They weren't deep, but she knew it would sting a lot and looked at his face for any signs of pain but when she glanced up she noticed his eyes had been on her the whole time.

She would have questioned his threshold for pain because he showed no sign that he was actually hurt but his scrutiny of her made forget all about that. He was giving her that _look_ again, the one that made her self-conscious- brought out that flustering feeling through her whole body. She couldn't name yet, but it was almost unignorable. She could only handle his stare for so long. She diverted her eyes back to his hand. "Stop looking at me like that," she said tonelessly.

He smirked."Like what?" he asked shamelessly. Tigress frowned; so now he finds his voice... She just didn't get him, even now after taking an blow, especially to his pride, he talked to her like that, looked at her like that!

She quickly grew anxious. "You know what you're doing, just stop it." she demanded, she was trying to get this done without being distracted but it seemed that she would have some trouble, he was very antagonising.

Tai lung gave her an innocent look, yet in his eyes the glower remained "Why don't you tell me, because I'm not really sure what you mean," he said shaking his head.

She then blushed persistently, and snapped her head up at him "Stop looking at me like I'm some sort of-of... quarry!" she practically hissed.

His smile became baleful. " Hn. You are blushing, Tigress."

That comment only causes her red face to become even brighter. "I don't."

"You do." His smile actually soften in an almost affectionate manner, but she wouldn't mistake it for that. "It's quite... lovely, I believe the appropriate term would be."

She hadn't realised she ha been blushing, but if that was the case then she could do nothing to control it. She pretended to ignore his comments and went back to her task; she could tell he wasn't finished though.

"It a lovely shade of red, you would think that it would be difficult to notice over such similarly coloured fur; but it stands out... brilliantly!"

She narrowed her eyes. He opened his mouth to say more before he could however she pressed the cloth a little harder annoying his hand slightly, his eye twitch slightly but other than that the only sign that gave of that he felt anything was the irrigated frown now written on his face. He looked down, clearly miffed. She smirked slight in her small triumph, but then it faltered. She finished with his first hand and bandaged it up.

She had finished with first "Tai lung."

He looked up curiously. "Mmm?"

Tigress hesitated a moment, thinking over whether she should say it or not. She became aware of her pause and nodded to his other hand. He gave it to her accordingly; taking it she began the same treatment. She looked at Tai lung again and wondered why she didn't just say it. She wanted to, if only to get it out of her system, but maybe it was nervousness holding her back. She frowned. Why should she be? She had no reason and he wasn't any different to anyone else. "...Tai lung?"

He looked at her questioningly.

She sighed and paused, which caused him to raise a brow at her; but then she steeled herself and the words came out "Thank you... for saving me."

He stared at her with indifference, but inwardly he did not expect a thank you, and even more strangely the words- astonishingly to him- came out genuinely. "... You're welcome."

* * *

Hm... well when I wrote this, it was surprisingly easy the get what I wanted. The words practically poured out of me, after that I magically placed my fingers on the keyboard; you can guess the rest.

Thank you for Reading and please take your time to Review, Bye now!

**Pinyin Chinese**

mó shù - magic


	8. Chapter 8

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: Firstly I'd like say sorry for the last chapter being a late one. It would sadden me to know that I might have lost some reviewers because of this, but luckily most of you still reviewed so thanks everyone!_

_I never considered that this fic might actually be so well received, but your reviews constantly tell me otherwise- which is why am still carrying on with this_**. **_I've even had requests! I find it so endearing that people want me to make certain kinds of fics! Yes am refer to you __**Chocolate swirl**__. At the moment I'm not really considering anything new right now because if I take my attention from this, I'm afraid I wouldn't write as well; So maybe sometime in future._ I'm also glad one person could quote the film reference _**Shadowess 88**_ I actually thought no would see it.

_Now, __**Monica**__, __**kougaluv**__, __**Chocalate**__ and __**Chocolate swirl**__(although I think you two are the same person), __**Olivia-B52007**__, __**Baka Penguin**__, __**Gaaraluva15**__, __**Brainssssss**__, __**Bellathewhitetigress**__, __**Unolai**__, __**Shadowess 88**__, __**qserenity**__, __**katara the waterbender**__, __**Lstcryptonian**__, __**PHYSCHOCHIC3**__, __**Shoujokrm26**__, __**Mind Assassin**__, __**TigressLuver**__, __**Jessie**__, __**KitsuneHebi**__, __**Dove**__, __**Fell The Tempest**__, __**Magnolialioness**__. All of you are brillant and hope that you carry on reading._

* * *

**Dangerous Politics**

Tai lung stalked down the dimly lit corridors leading to Raja's study. In this area of the palace, late at night, only the ceiling lamps provided fluorescence. This would have equated to a frightening sight were anyone to come by Tai Lung in the current atmosphere. He bald his bandaged fists gently, then opened them. Until his paws had fully healed he was forced into constantly having to be mindful of his handycap. It was a familiar and unwanted sensation, the pain wasn't _so_ bad, but if he over did it then his wounds would bleed. No, that wasn't the unwanted part, it was the fact that he was weaker because of it. He hadn't sustain anything as bad as this for quite a long time, and any show of weakness to him was both humiliating and caused diffidence, especially to someone as proud as himself.

She helped him. The thought of accepting aid was also humiliating. As soon as he realised what he had done he sought escape from it, but Tigress followed. When she attempt to carry out the task of cleaning his wounds he became angry, more at himself than her. He didn't want her help; it would be accepting that he was weak to accept her help. But she refused to back down and Tai lung actually allowed her to help him. But why did she help?

He had treated her quite illy on her first day, and to start off he felt _nothing_ about treating her in such way. He didn't recall the exact point of when, but he had began feeling empathetic towards her. Look at it from her point of view he wouldn't have liked doing forced labor either. He had soon took pity on her then, but also began to feeling something else. Lust, maybe... No he had only felt pity for her, but if it had not been- Perhaps It began when she cried. Her feelings were completely understandable, even though he had brought them out; but she had told him she needed the outlet... so he just let it be. He would usually try to avoid feeling awkward about anything, so seeing her in that state, and not having a clue on how to react wasn't comforting place to be.

He wanted her, _really_ he did. Yet, he was trying convince himself that he could hurt her, do whatever he pleased to her, and do so without any guilt like he could upon any other enemy. But when it came down to it, attacking her wasn't what he wanted, because just thinking of it now... disgusted him.

He had -which he kept no secret -taken his fair share of flames in the past, they had all been passive and purely physical, and after taking an interest in her, he assumed the same would happen with her. But when he advanced upon her, she turned him down with her insecurity. It was out of fear. Such a fierce and defiant soul revealing to be petrified at the touch of another- No not another's, just his, and it was his fault for making her afraid when he had forced himself on her... and he had fully intended to take her then and there. He wouldn't have stopped if they hadn't been interrupted; he lost total control for moment. It wasn't new, he had let his emotions guide him many times in the past. It served as fuel, it made him stronger; but he could never lose complete control around her... he realised that now. On a more disciplined note, a Kung Fu warrior of his calibre had to master his emotions. He couldn't allow them master him. The last time he lost control of his anger he was put in prison for half his life for of what he'd done.

He was not a senseless brute with no concept of control, he could easily bottle up his anger, but that was the problem. All that rage built up, and grew until it unhinged. It was Shifu's fault, his former master had brought him so far up only to send him crashing down, and who could handle such a hail of bad emotion? Him? When he was younger the concept of being hurt by anything but the material seemed impossible. He now scoffed at the thought.

Every promise made by Shifu had been broken, all his proclamations of how Tai lung would become the dragon warrior had turned out to be false... and he learnt that the very worst wounds were never physical. Oogway had said it, even before he'd laid waste to the valley. Tai lung's heart was dark. Shifu kept filling his head with visions of how spectacular he would become. The darkness was encouraged and Tai lung and spent all his life striving toward the goal. To earn what his Master could not, the _Dragon scroll._ So much effort was sacrificed that he had nothing left to fall back on if he failed. But... Shifu had convinced him that he could not fail.

Tai lung shook head, and looked for something more appealing to think about.

He has made the promise that he wouldn't kiss her. No matter how much he wanted to. He did mentioned at the end that he would not do so without her permission, and he had meant it. A ting of anxiousness hit him. The decision didn't sit well with him, he found it exceedingly difficult in fact. But he could find ways around that... He was going to have to be more gentle with her. In more ways than one he had commited ill treatment towards her. She obviously had no idea what had happen when they had gotten close she hadn't even been touched by another man at least not in that way. Her scent gave it away. Unlike the female company he was more accustomed to she was inviolate; he found the thought endearing that he had been the only one to get close to her in such a manner, in fact in filled him with a odd kind of glee.

Bring his thoughts to an end he turned the corner and had finally reached Raja's quarters. He frowned. His friend had been keep things from him, delicate things. If he was in danger then Raja should have told him; was it such an unapproachable subject?

He didn't even knock and simply walked in. As he entered, he saw raja sat in front of a desk eying various documents and piece of parchment.

Raja looked up slowly at Tai lung who had a level frown on his face. The two stared at each for a moment, Raja looked tired and seemed to have missed out on a good amount of sleep. Tai lung could see the weariness in his eyes; Raja finally broke the silence "The ones we were fighting today were apart of militia from Kuala lumpur, which you already know, but the reason their here-" he took one the document and motioned for him to take it "-Is this"

Tai lung eyes flicked towards the letter, he took it and started reading. At first he was curious but as he got further into it his frown soon turned into a scowl he snapped his head towards Raja "You're sure this is genuine?" he asked.

Raja nodded grimly.

"So you declined?"

"Yes, as you could probably tell from earlier," he said with a sarcasm.

The Malaysian royals had offered a proposal of unification to Raja, obviously to increase their influence and gain more power but for some reason Raja said no. His reasoning was a mystery. The benefits were vast, anyone would have thought he could only gain from this. But Tai lung could tell that there was more yet to be told. "Why?"

"Because they want a marriage of our heirs, and in their overzealous approach, they have begun resorting to the extreme. Singapore has always been separate from the rest of Malaysia and now they want it all for themselves."

Tai lung looked at him curiously. "They want _Nisa?"_

Raja suddenly looked exhausted like everything had suddenly weighed down on him. Tai lung didn't blame him, but that's what happens when you give up fighting for sitting at desk looking at paper all day. It seemed like he'd gone through a lot of trouble to keep this problem conceiled from Nisa... and keeping her safe. The cobra leaned back in his chair slightly "It is not that they really want her... but that they want Singapore. Nisa is just an object of seal the deal, as it were. I always told then no. It was quite recently that they came to my home with a final offer. They did not like my refusal and sent those intruders to force me into making terms with them... Or simply take everthing." He looked back at Tai lung with deep anger. "I _cannot_ let them take Nisa, who know what would happen to her."

"Have they tried anything before?" Tai Lung asked.

Raja scowled "Oh yes, they've tried everything in the book, including abduction."

Tai lung was surprised that he'd managed to keep this quiet from his child. "Why are they really so set on this?"

"Because the future king is a selfish _bajingan kecil_ " he spat. "And naturally his parents are going to give him whatever he wants."

Tai lung said nothing and took a moment to process this. He'd left China to avoid these kind of conflicts, but it seemed wherever he travelled the angst followed. He actually didn't know what to do about it. This wasn't his fight and nor did he desire to be apart of it; but could he just leave Raja alone in in this? He made it no secret that he was more aligned towards self-interest but that didn't mean he was without honour, far from it. He had always been loyal to those who had earned his loyalty that had never changed; it was one of the few things that hadn't changed but it could also make a man commit to course against his better nature. He was put in a difficult position here. Raja looked like he was hanging on his reaction "How soon do you expect, they attack again?"

Raja blinked, he was expect something more direct, visualizing 'Tough luck my friend' or 'I'll see that they won't bother you again'. He would have put his money on the former with all things considered, but he couldn't really tell what he meant. "It will take some time before they take action again, but I'm not sure of exactly when."

"They must have a settlement within a few miles of here, yes?"

Raja couldn't supress smile. "They do, closer to the mainland about a full days run at good speed"

Tai lung nodded, and nearly sneered at grateful look Raja was giving him. "I can get there in half the time, we should go tomorrow"

Raja stared at him oddly. The snake's eyes flicked towards him hands. "Maybe we should wait, until..."

Tai lung saw exactly where Raja's eyes wandered. "Wait until what?" He asked darkly.

Raja sighed, he knew it wasn't worth it. "Nothing, I'll see you in the morning"

Tai lung nodded, and left. He could still fight without difficulty, he would just have to avoid using his fists. The only problem he did have was what he was going to do with his captive; she would have to be kept _secure _but how could he leave her anywhere without her running off?

* * *

The arrangement had her baffled to begin with, but Tigress could easily see how happy Nisa was after they had received the information. It just seemed so out of the blue. It had been first thing in the morning when the girl's father came into her room and announced that they were going make a 'short journey on Tai lung's ship, to which her reaction was to embrace him and shower him with comments of how great a father he was; it caused Tigress to feel a hint of jealousy seeing how strong a bond they had, one that she wished she might have had with Shifu. It had her mostly suspious though- they were to leave this place so soon? It was right after a battle too. Tai lung didn't say anything about this. They had probably decided only a few hours after coming to tell them.

Hopefully Tai lung would be forthcoming when she questioned him about it.

They had just boarded the ship, and were about depart; Tai lung had everyone working at twice the pace they would usually work at. Tigress merely observed as they did their jobs, she had noticed that some of the crew members weren't around anymore which had her puzzled, notably the ones Tai lung had shown hostility to earlier, hostility because of hera. she wouldn't pretend to know what went on in his head but he was clearly upset when they had insulted her. It made her wonder what they had said. Tai lung hadn't told her and he probably wasn't going to either, but there was other means of finding out, some of the crewmen would likely know. Perhaps Hong knew but he was as unapproachable as an angry porcupine.

Nisa had as soon as she saw him had taken Xiaodan into great big squeeze called him the 'cutest' little baby she had ever seen, to which he protested, no vehemently denied yelling out that he wasn't a baby and didn't want to be treated like one. He tried to push himself away but it was in vain so he merely crossed his arms and pouted as she cooed and smothered him, Tigress smiled at them in amusement.

She walked towards the ships railing and leaned against it, looking it out she observed that the weather hadn't changed much.

"This fog is helping no one," Tigress muttered to herself.

"Actually, it's perfect for where were going," spoke a voice from behind her. She didn't need to look who it was; Tai lung's voice had now been burnt into her mind permanently.

She turned to him curiously, perhaps he would tell her what this rush was for. "Why is that?"

He didn't seem surprised by her question but regarded her a level stare. "The attack yesterday, won't be the last."

Then it hit her "So you're going to take the fight to... those people?" she also begun to realise that this outing was not any kind of vacation and that was merely a front. Raja likely only brought Nisa because he wanted to keep nearby for her own safety. She could tell his daughter was oblivious to this. She didn't approve of lying; especially to those close to you, but then he would probably use some evasive excuse like 'Not telling isn't the same as lying'. She'd find out about it one way or another.

Tai lung gave nod "Exactly."

She knitted her brow. "What is it that started all of this, anyway?"

Tai lung gave her a small smile. "The less you know the better. I might tell you after, if I... convene it. But you shouldn't expect anything."

Tigress frowned. Yes she just remembered. She was his prisoner, but instead of trying to argue she decided leave it and changed the subject "So you'll be going to fight on your own?"

"Raja will be joining me," he stated indifferently.

Yes of course he would be, it was his problem after all. But that didn't change the fact that Tai lung wasn't able to fight at his best. With what happen yeasterday, what if he got injured again? For no reason she was put off by the idea... then again, there was always something she could do. She decided. "Let me come with you."

Tai lung smirked, as if she had just said something funny. "Sorry love, but I _don't_ need any help."

She knew if she tried argue directly it would get her nowhere, the idea then came to her. "I wasn't offering to come to help you, Raja might need help." It clearly wasn't the best she could come with, but wasn't terrible.

Tai lung didn't budge. For some reason he looked annoyed. "He can more than handle himself. If you remember yesterday he fought as well."

She frowned "You know this could be done faster if I help." She knew she was right, and so did he.

"I don't need any help," he intoned.

She glowered at his refusal but continued to persist "Your being unreasonable," she said mimicking his tone.

His eyes narrowed. He was becoming irritated at this, but he didn't allow to show just yet. "The choice has been made." he replied smoothly.

Tigress looked ready to huff in agitation, he was being stubborn. She wasn't going flee, not with the current problem. Helping out a friend was a mandatory in her book and she liked Nisa, in doing this she would be helping protect her home. Tigress had left it in the back of her mind but she felt that if she was there she'd prevent soemthing terrible from happening.

"I say let her come." Tigress looked past Tai lung to Raja behind, who had probably heard most of what was said. She noticed some of the crewmen around pretending not to hear, but failing miserably.

Tai lung looked over his shoulder in disinterest. He had also noticed the audience in that moment. "Kami berada di atas kapal SAYA. Berikut saya seorang yang bertanggungjawab, dan saya telah diberikan keputusan saya.." (We are on MY ship. Here I'm the one in charge, and I've given my verdict.)

Raja gave him a dull look, but didn't bothering asking. "Datang sekarang, kita boleh mendapatkan ini dilakukan lebih cepat jika dia datang bersama-sama dengan kami, anda tidak perlu menyimpan dia dalam gelap." (Come now, we could get this done quicker if she came along with us; you need not keep her in the dark.)

Then Raja's expression seemed to change. An unreadable smile appered on in his face, which made Tai lung wary. "Adakah anda mempunyai apa-apa sebab atau bukti bahawa anda tidak boleh mempercayai?" (Do you have any reason or proof that you can't trust her?)

Tigress looked between the two of them in confusion. Was that Malaysian? Why were they speaking Malaysian? Although, if Tai lung agreed to let her come with them, she didn't really care for the language they spoke... Still, she wondered what they were saying. Suddenly Tai lung snapped his gaze on her- and out of sheer force she stopped herself from shrivering. His eyes were livid- as if he was breaking through to find something. Tigress responded in the only way she could, which was to meet his stare. She did so without any show of emotion; it was very hard. He seemed to have all the power again. It was as if... the balance hadn't shifted at all since she had helped him, and yet again his cold stare had her raw with the strange uncultivated feeling she was experiencing more and more each time his eyes were on her.

He finally opened his mouth. "We'll speak inside." It was directed at her alone. Then he turned to go into the ship's interior, Tigress spared Raja a glance before following behind.

They entered the outer cabin to see it filled with crewmen lounging. Tai lung narrowed his eyes at all of them. "Everyone, out!"

They all quickly turned their eyes on him in annoyance, but then saw who had shouted- and they promptly fled the room. Tigress watched them all go then turned her attention Tai lung, suddenly her instincts told to stay on guard.

* * *

Shifu was never one to openly express any emotions, beside passive grouchiness or frustration, usually. But the for some unknown reason- especially to himself -he felt the longer it took to get Tigress back with them the more he felt that he would lose her. It made him feel hopeless, but he chose to ignore the feeling because it was probably nothing. Oogway likely would have tried convincing him otherwise if he were here now, but Shifu was never one to act purely on a feeling. He knew Tigress was strong and if any new danger crossed her path that she would be able to survive it... Only- the danger wasn't anything new, at least not to Shifu. Tai lung was in whole different category of danger. The best he could do was only hope that Tigress wouldn't let him break her before he and the others got to her.

He sighed. He could see how Tigress' absence had taken its toll on the others. They were all anxious to have her back and the newly acquired ship was working at double time. But then he turned his sights on Po who was sitting alone at the far end of sun deck looking glum. He was aware that the Dragon warrior was more out of his element than anyone else. It appeared that her being gone had been harder for him than Shifu had orginally took notice to.

A deep voice toned at his side. "I ain't one for sentimental bull, but looks like your student bein' gone has him real shaken up."

"Po? He will be fine. He is just a little... lost without Tigress being here to guide them." Shifu turned to the man next to him. He was still slightly awed by the sight. The Rhino looked like half his body had be set a light. The red scars went from his face all the way down his torso and left arm.

The rhino scoffed. "_Right_..." He sounded like he didn't believe for a moment that was the problem, but he wasn't really renown for remorse. Though their encounters had been brief he had enough of an idea into the rhino's mentality to know that he had different very views. Shifu doubted that Vachir knew much about empathy. But who could say, the Rhino was probably a bit crazed after what he'd been through anyway.

Because Vachir had joined him, he had more resources, such things as the crew consisting solely of Rhinoceros, beside him and the five of course.

The rhino's face sudden contorted into a merciless scowl that could only be described as _ugly_. "I hope when the time come you'll be ready to face whoever gets in are way to killing Tai lung."

Shifu narrowed his eyes and the rhino and grit his teeth. "You just concentrate on your part Vachir, do you understand?"

Vachir chuckled as if find some kind of humour in what he had just said. "Yeah sure! I'll handle what I go'd a do. But just remember whose the enemy Shifu." and with that said, he walked away. Shifu suddenly tired. Giving Po a final glance, he made his way inside. Hopefully Vachir could run thing smoothly until they arrived.

Shifu went lethargic. He hoped that wherever Tigress was now, she was safe.

* * *

Tigress' back slammed into the wall and she let out a stunned gasp. Tai lung pinned her against it and was pressing the length of his body against her own creating a sensitive friction between them. Her eyes went wide as his mouth covered hers, eagerly taking what he wanted. But then he slowed down his advance and his eagerness changed into something staidly.

How did this happen? Her mind was foggy at the moment. She could remember him revealing some kind of plot in which someone wanted to take over Singapore or something along those lines but that was it; the rest was blurred for some reason. After he finished telling her she didn't know why she did it but when he came so close to her, looking her in the eyes the way he did, and asked. As soon as the word left her mouth, he was on her. How could she let him? She failed to understand why she had let her guard down but for some reason when he came close, she had forgot about everything prior and just couldn't bring herself to say no to him. And now here the two of them were kissing again.

Suddenly his actions didn't have nearly as much demand as they had the last time. He was... tender with his movements. His bandaged hands were behind her head and pulling her waist bringing them together, not strongly as he usually would be but there was purpose to it and the hold was still tight. He still manage to seem possessive despite the lack of force. His lips were pressing softly across hers and were not showing any sign of him ready to force her, but was pressing gently and slow with an affection only a lover could have mustered; it had her practically thawing.

He pulled away slowly, and she found herself leaning into him as he moved back. Opening their eyes they stared at each other. She looked quite dazed. He wondered to himself how he'd found the will power to hold off, but he was also glad she hadn't tried to force him away. It was inwardly surprising for him that she agreed, but he wouldn't gloat. She looked like she had enjoyed it as much as he did, it must have been a few minutes before he moved off her completely.

He sighed "I will," he muttered to her.

She gave him a confused look "You'll... what?" she asked dreamily.

"Let you come."

Then everything rushed back at her. He had said that if she wanted to help then she would have to give him something and that something was _that_ just moments ago; her kiss. She prepared for the inevitable regret to hit her, but oddly see didn't feel any. She'd admit to herself that she liked it, but... as as she waited for the regret, none came.

Knock. Knock. Knock

Her eyes widdened. Tigress looked at the door in alarm.

Tai lung knew by the look on her face that it was time to let her go or risk having her distrustfully of his proximity all over again. He frowned and turned his eyes to the door in annoyance, yet again he had been interrupted. He stepped away from her and walked to the door not seeing the tinge of disappointment on her face when he disengaged from her. Opening it he saw Raja and Hong; the two of them wore serious expressions. "Were almost here."

The translation was Malaysian, but to avoid confusion I won't use it again I think. Also from now on I'll put the translation next to words if it's a full sentence so that you all know what they are saying instantly.

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Please read and review, thanks!

**Malaysian translation**

"bajingan kecil" - "little bastard".


	9. Chapter 9

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: Hello everyone, not a lot to say, though I think I should tell you that unless I want you to know what the character is saying I've decided not to translate everything in a different tongue. So if there is a translation then it's because I do want you to know, otherwise it is because I don't. It's nothing big just saying. As for single words, those will continue be translated at the bottom._

_Thank you my reviewers viz**: PhanOfTheOpera96**, **Urbannerd**(Thanks a lot for the feedback on every chapter, it was a big help!), **Olivia-B52007**, **Gaaraluva15**, **Shadowess 88**, **Unolai**, **Shoujokrm26**, **Monica**(It means a lot that you think you think that highly of me, thank you), **Niama**, **o,babyb0y.o**, **kougaluv**, **Airmylith73**, **m. Wongchaowart**, **Bowtie Lion**, **Scarlet Embers, Sword-Master-Caracal**, **KristenTheKittyKat, babycakes22, Sek, chibiles**. So many reviews I must be doing something right! _

_This took a long time to write up. It's like I said before choreography isn't my strong suit. I spend such a long time trying to make sound right in my head, I won't post the chapter otherwise, and even when I do I can't have it come out perfect... but hopefully I've done good. Anyway read and enjoy...and review._

_Your support is invaluable to me so I'm glad you all enjoy. Certain comments that were in your reviews are really encouraging, Thank you all._

* * *

**Encirclement**

The air around him was hot and damp. The fog made it difficult for one to see, but this did not impede Tai lung. He knew where he was going. The orientation Raja provided was exactly on the mark. It was a safe bet that those who tried to usurp Raja's palace would encamp themselves on the coast nearby in order to reach the city more quickly. It was a good thing too, since he had no wish to travel an obsene distance just to finish something that really had nothing to do with him.

Tai lung felt a sudden temptation to flaunt the ship's guns. He had actually never gotten the opportunity to use them before, but... perhaps this situation didn't call upon such measures. He didn't really consider this an emergency. Clearly it was a bad idea... It was a shame, the weapons were shown to have radical results on their unfortunate targets, as he had seen during a demonstration by a certain warlord. Well... he wouldn't completely cast idea out of his mind... if the opportunity presented itself.

The occasion was rare, but sometimes even he had to question his own logic, and consider the consequences of going into a blind alley. Now was one of _those_ times.

Tigress appeared so willing to join in on their little outing that he'd been compelled to ask if she'd give him something for letting her come along. There wasn't really anything she owned, but then it wasn't really any small object that he wanted. To his surprise, she was _willing- within reason-_ to give him a little something for letting her come. He didn't tell her what he want right away, but he could see that she an idea. It was his for the taking, and his desire was even greater than the last time.

He was starting to consider that this desire was getting out of hand.

He never questioned his passion, it made him stronger, but what she had brought out made him feel like his armour was being ripped away.

Perhaps it actually was for Raja's nǚér, maybe he hadn't given her enough space- and she wanted to get out... or she was looking for an opportunity to escape. He found the latter unlikely on account of the former. She was ultimately a protector and would not so easily deviate from her preferences. But that didn't prevent him from feeling irritated. Obviously he would _have_ to let her come. He gave his word, and once given wouldn't go back on it. He didn't know why he was being so paranoid. She had no idea where she was, which meant she couldn't leave without him.

Even though he unsure of this arrangement, he was also curious. She seemed to have forgotten that she had proposed to work with one who was her enemy, had almost killed her and those she cared for. He wondered how well she would actually work with him.

Tai lung discarded the linen shirt he'd been wearing and allowed the warm wet air to flow through his fur. The hazed sun touched down at his bare upper body. He had only just realised it but the day was red hot. He looked to his crew and noticed just how it was affecting them. They were all weary and half naked showing the obvious toll it had taken on them. Unlike all of them, he loved being out in the open, on his ship in the wide ocean. He was free and uninhibited, polar opposite to what he had experienced in Chorh-gom prison.

He had, over long years of training, learnt to maximize his threshold for extreme conditions. This was when he was put in Chorh-gom, not at the Jade palace. Whether it was heat, cold or pain_, _it didn't matter. He became so good at it that he had almost started to enjoy it. Now, he felt his body lax from the heat and his mouth slowly becoming dry, but he had never felt more alive. He raised his head and inhaled the damp, undesirably warm air, feeling the fiery ambience travel down through his body.

It was occasions like this that reminded him that he was lucky to be alive. This feeling of presure the sun threw down on him was just one of countless ways he used an aesthesis. He had survived... He had spent so long after his defeat wondering about it, because honestly he didn't believe it himself and when he'd Gods-sure convinced himself that he was in fact: still breathing, he had ended up putting himself into a half-dead state all over again. It was insanity to risk death a second time, but otherwise he had felt deprived of life. It wasn't enough that so many years had been taken away when he was put in prison.

It was shortly after his recovery that he sought all new ways of feeling alive. That way, the void would feel just a little less empty.

He took his attention from the atmosphere, and turned to Hong. "Make sure you keep everything in order while I'm gone." Hong gave a nod. Having arranged everything now, he began making his way towards the long boat which was ready to be off, jumping on he turn to face Hong again. "And if anyone should step out of line, be sure to pull their head off!" he commanded loudly. Hong raised a brow, and smirked.

"Are you sure you require no assistance?" Hong asked seriously.

Tai lung started on about how he didn't even need the current help, and saying it all with an cavalier smile. Tigress eyed him hauntingly as she sat impatiently in the long boat. She tugged at collar of her shirt, the heat was all too noticeable, but she couldn't do more than fan herself. Removing any attire was out of the question, especially because she wasn't wearing anything underneath.

She rolled her eyes at his instructions toward Hong, he may have sounded exuberant, but she knew he was serious about what he said. She could almost picture the crewmen fleeing and hiding, or nervously pretending they couldn't hear the exchange. Even she could find that amusing. If she had been leading this task then she would have told him park his ass down and get moving, but she was not, and it left her out of her element, working with the five involved everything being completely reliant on her commands, but this time she was working on as subordinate... with Tai lung.

Raja appeared, and slithered past Hong entering the boat "I've 'explained' to Nisa that we'll be gone for a little while, I think she suspects something though," he said mainly to Tai lung.

Crossing his arms, Tai lung gave the cobra a cynical look; he was really looking to him for advice about this? The topic wasn't something he had a base of knowledge in, and after the stunt he pulled earlier... he didn't feel like offer any thoughts. "I don't think you need to keep her in the dark; it's not as if she can't be trusted." he said mockingly.

Raja looked unimpressed "Your... unpleasantness, does you no credit."

The snow leopard looked bitterly tempted to retort, but when about to reply he decided against it. Instead the two glowered at each other and everything suddenly went quiet, tension was building up.

Tigress eyed them warily. They choose to have an argument now, of all the times they could have a problem; it has to be now? Didn't they have a mission of crucial importance to get on with? And then she spoke without thinking. "Shall we go now? Or are you two not done caressing at each other with your eyes?" Tigress asked in annoyance.

They both broke contact and looked at her in bewilderment; both seemed confounded by what she had said. It gave her some satisfaction, but it was, unfortunately, short lived. "Caressing? Have you been teaching her these words Tai lung?" Raja asked in curiousity.

Tai lung pursed his lips.

Tigress looked between the two of them. Her cheeks turn red. "... Are we going, or not?" she snapped angrily.

Tai lung smirked at her, and finally took the oars setting them off. Tigress wondered how he knew where he was going through the fog's cover? She decided not to ask, and Raja opted to settle in where he was sat and look out. She could see the dim outline of land not far off. They were close but they were still other issues that she thought needed to be discussed; they might have already covered it, but she could regret it later if she didn't ask.

"These invaders, when we've beaten them?- And she knew they would. "Might they just send in more soldiers?" It was good point, and it meant things may remain dire for him.

It was Raja who answered her. "They don't have a big enough army to try and take Singapore, and protect Malay- all at the same time. Anything could happen while their army leaves. So once this mercenary group has been shattered, they will have no choice but to withdraw... that is if they want to protect themselves." Tigress nodded. It made some sense now, especially since not much could go wrong.

Tigress looked at Raja. She was irritated by the thought, but... "Perhaps it means little, but I do agree with Tai lung."

Raja gave her confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I don't think you should keep Nisa in the dark, you should tell her the truth. She would resent you if she found out later rather than sooner." Raja gave her a measuring look then stared out thoughtfully, and Tai lung looked amused. He had obviously found some kind of entertainment in her speaking out. What she had just said probably had nothing to do with why he had gotten upset in the first place.

Eventually they had reach within fifty metres of the coast, and were just about to reach land. The fog was thinning, revealing to them the outlook of the beach... only it wasn't wide open space as it would normally have been. The area was crowded with massive tents and small ships. Tai lung slowed down and brought them in gently. Jumping out into the shallows, he took the boat by its bow and dragged it on land. Tigress jumped out the boat and her paws padded the sand softly and Raja almost floated out and moved next to her. "How are we going to do this?" Tigress asked.

"We'll stealthily pass by and find their leader. Without him, they will be easily killed," Tai lung answered.

Tigress looked around. The task seemed easy enough. It was matter of stealth. She assumed, rather cynically, that the two of them were aware of how that worked... or she hoped at least. "And where would he be?"

"The biggest and most decadent tent probably," Raja answered. "The one in charge is probably snake like me. We will probaby face more than a few when we find him, and they can all fight decently, so stay sharp." Tigress nodded in affirmation.

The three of them ran up to the nearest tent, and hid behind it; Tai lung retracted his claws and sliced a hole through so they could get inside. Going through they were welcomed by the sight of about a dozen sleeping soldiers all scattered around the ground consisting mostly of canine but you also spot one or two feline laying around and they were all snoring loudly, Raja looked at them distastefully "This is not cliché at all" he muttered to himself.

"Shall we sneak by?" Tigress asked.

Tai lung looked ready to mock the suggestion, instead he leapt over them all and landed near the entrance, Tigress narrowed her eyes, he could have been more subtle, it was like he was hoping for them to wake up but she decided to do the same and landed next to him a bit more softly than Tai lung, Raja slithered and swerved around them all swiftly making no noise whatsoever. The three of them were about to leave when.

"Hey? Who er' you?" a bewildered voiced asked.

Turning round they saw a hyena looking warily at them. Tai lung exchanged a glance with Raja, then he grabbed the hyena by the throat making him choke out. He threw him in the centre of the sleeping soldiers. The hyena ended up landing on the head of one of sleeping wolves, making the canine jump awake. Looking around frantically he saw the Hyena at his feet looking dazed. He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and shook him "What's the big idea?" he asked in annoyance. The Hyena merely pointed dizzily to the exit. Looking the wolf's eyes widdened.

Tai lung eyed at the wolf severely, then walked back into the tent. "Wait outside." Tigress furrowed her brow in annoyance, and considered following him in. In fact she found no good reason why she shouldn't.

She charged to go in but Raja placed himself in front of her. "Trust him."

Tigress frowned in discord, which told the snake he'd hit right on the nail. "Why should I?"

Raja shook his head at her continuing to block her path. She gave him a heated scowl, but reluctantly she complied. They heard nothing, the silence seemed to go on for over a minute then Tai lung emerged looking totally fine.

Tigress could picture the scene in happening in her head and repressed a shudder, poor scum. She wondered how went about it without feeling any distress from the culpability. It didn't matter who she fought or even how much she would hate her enemy she always felt remorse after killing, even if she didn't let it show, but she could sense nothing like that from him. The thought disturbed her. "Let's go," he said.

They could see a single guard posted outside each tent, their biggest problem was getting by them without alerting the whole army of their presence. The three of sped from one tent to another. Raja nimbly coiled around the tent's guard whom was a Dhole, and covered his mouth. The Dhole tried crying out in alarm but wasn't loud enough, "Hush!" raja whispered. He silently ceased his breathing and mutely hid him inside "That must be the one," Raja called out to them. Tigress looked where he was staring and she saw a huge tent over triple the size of the others. It was embroidered with fancy patterns and the same symbol Tai lung had seen when they attacked the palace. The tent was on straight path from where they were, but to the sides were many other tents likely housing a host of soldiers each. Raja turned to both of them "If were quick we can rush straight there and go unnoticed."

They both gave nod and then the three of them lurched into a sprint across the sand right toward to the tent. It was instantaneous, when a pair guards being a Clouded leopard and a Singapura came into view. Instincts kicked in when the clouded leopard's mouth opened, "IN-" Tigress used her momentum launching a kick straight in his gut causing him to let out a gargled grunt then she smack her fist in his temple; Tai lung lunged his the scintillated blue fist into the other cats sternum quickly making him fall unconscious unfortunately he felt like recoiling after it. He managed to hold back revealing the soreness but he would have to avoid using such an attack until he was a little better.

Reaching the entrance they paused. Raja eyed the tent. "Hopefully he will be sleeping like those others."

"It wouldn't really make a difference," Tai lung said. Balling his fists he turned to walk in but a hand reached out to his arm, looking over his shoulder he saw Tigress staring apprehensively at him.

"... You can't just walk in, we could alert everyone." She gripped him lightly, but Tai lung was much less concerned. It was a mixture of worries that had brought this on, but it was mainly how apathetic he was with completing this errand. He couldn't be so confidant about this, it was like he didn't care if every soldier here woke up. Maybe there was something else that bothered her... She denied it firmly, her worries were obviously elsewhere. Surely he knew the value of staying unseen. They could have this mission done without anyone even know they had come if it was done the right way.

As though he sensed the kind of thoughts she was having he turned and took in her exposed concerns. Something told him she would not be pleased by him if he met her halfway. Instead he moved close to her and leaned next to her ear. "Trust me," he breathed out. Then like nothing happened he resumed entering the tent, leaving her baffled and following behind. Raja watched them both with a recognitive look in his eyes, and followed in next.

Walking in the three them were welcomed by the sight of what looked like a meeting in session... Sat around an ivory table was an Elephant similar to the one Tai lung had killed recently, then a haggard Vulture with a hybrid look of grimness and _ugly_ written on his face, and a Cobra who looked quite similar to Raja only in colours of bronze, black and a pale underbelly. 'One for each of us' Tai lung mused. The looks of awe on their faces were quite enjoyable. It was all too obvious that they recognised at least Raja; Tai lung noticed that the two Reptile were about ready to maul each other, but it was the vulture who spoke first.

"I have no idea who you are, but I know you were not invited, which means you are intruders. I'm surprised you got passed the guards... Tell me, are you harebrained or do you have a wish to die?" the vulture asked menacingly.

"So much for stealth..." Raja whispered. Tigress rolled her eyes.

Tai lung smirked darkly. He already knew what was going to happen now, but decided that this time he would humour the preference of his fiery confrere. "I'm sure that you recognise my friend here," he gestured to Raja "I'll assume that you don't completely lack intelligence, and tell you plainly. The deal is this... You will return to Kuala Lumpur and give up this futile effort never to return, and I will give you the very generous gift: of not killing you."

Instead of beoming enraged the vulture looked awestruck, then like he'd just been told something hilarious, he barked out in laughter. As for his counterparts they were still angry. "Is that so? Well it would be foolish of me to deny such a generous gift." Then his humour vanished. "But I have an offer for you. You surrender right now, and I promise you will have a quick death."

Tai lung shook his head. " Well I could promise you that! but I'd be telling a lie."

The vulture scowled at the Snow Leopard. "Then I believe we are at an impasse."

The cobra hissed aggressively gaining everyone's attention. "Enough of this! You have made a terrible mistake in coming here Raja. But since you came all this way I take that our first visit did not go well."

Raja gave the a hard smile. "They are all dead."

The cobra bristled, but this time the Elephant spoke "Saudara... is dead?" he looked stricken, then he looked like one possessed. "_Who_?" the elephant snarled.

Tai lung looked at him curiously. _'_Saudara?' He assumed he meant the other Elephant he's fought the day before... They were brothers. Tai lung didn't blame the man if he was out of revenge. "If you mean the Elephant who led the attack then I was the one who: took care of him," Tai lung confessed flatly. The fool had it coming... Ater seeing his cruel intentions, Tai lung saw fit to reward him with some cruelty of his own.

Tigress had watched the whole preceding on edge; it seemed that all the opponents had been picked out. Raja and that other snake clearly wanted to fight each other and that Elephant was eying Tai lung like he was the embodiment of indignity, which left only her and the vulture. This was going to be a quick one- she could tell.

Out of nowhere the Cobra snarled and charged himself at Raja. The two became a tangled blur as they wrestled towards who could plant the toxic bite.

Tai lung had turned his attention to Raja for just a moment, but that was all it took. In the rim of his vision he just caught sight of something large a white coming his way, his eyes widdened, being just quick enough to stop it, he had caught the elephant's tusk the second before it could crash into him and brought it to stiff halt. He was starting to get tired of fighting elephants, he might have just been lucky in that way but he seemed be magnetic towards the _big one_ in fights lately 'At least there are no spikes' he mused warily.

The elephant scowled and push hard against the snow leopard causing sand gather to behind his paws, also bring out irritation in his hands. Tai lung returned the elephants scowl and instead of push back he pulled forward with the elephant's force bringing him closer then launched a forceful straight kick into the giant's forehead making the beast's whole body recoil. He fell on to his back with a thud. The elephant rolled over and grasped the front of his head. He started to get back to his feet.

Growling ferociously, Tai lung lunged.

Tigress had kept her eyes on Tai lung for most of the time since they had set foot in the tent. She had gotten so occupied with what he was doing that she had not noticed that her own prey was about leave, right until now that is. Turning round she caught the vulture about to exit, probably to alert everyone that they were here. Leaping up she landed herself in front of him and blocked his path. She narrowed her eyes. "You can give up right now, because there is no way I'm letting you pass."

The vulture looked wild. "You don't know what getting in to, little girl move!" he screeched.

Tigress took stance and frowned. "You know, I think this proves that all scavengers _are _cowards_._"

"Fine." The vulture bowed his head in submission- then in out of his feather he drew a Jian Sword and swung straight at her. She ducked under and knocked the scavenger back with her palms. The noise of the hidden blade was so loud that she probably could have dodged it with her eyes closed. The vulture stepped back and extended his wings. He took flight. Up high, he stared down at Tigress who had her own gaze set on the vulture threateningly. He screeched and flew straight down pointing the sword to thrust. Tigress easily avoided the sharp blade letting it pass her by. As the vulture's head came close to assing her, she brought her fist closer along with it and then they connected.

The vulture fell to the ground with his face planted in the sand. Tigress allowed herself to smirk, he was obvious no fighter as she been had warned. She made her way towards him to be certain that he was unconcious. When she was right behind the scavenger, he swiftly snapped round and threw a feather-balled fist full of sand right for her eyes. Unfortunately for him it didn't get the desired effect. She had managed to move her paw in the way before it could hit.

She frowned. That was the second time someone had tried to catch her off guard, but this time she saw it coming. The vulture was about to let his smugness take over- but then he saw her enraged expression. He was not fighter, but a dirty one, which in her eyes was worse than someone who couldn't fight at all.

The snow leopard gradually approached the elephant with dangerous pursuit. He dodged the elephant's oncoming strikes one after the other effortlessly and slowly gained distance between them. His adversary was seething because this.

Why wouldn't he stay still? That _look _on the leopard's face was what bothered him the most, it wasn't normal, in fact it made his thick skin crawl. Rage built up at his own discomfort. Right now this snow leopard was just toying with him and it infuriated him. He wondered if he had done the same thing to his xiōng dì before he killed him. The thought only filled him with even more anger. He brought his fist down again to where he was standing only for him to side step as if he was courteously allowing someone to walk by. "STOP. DODGING ME!" he roared through his teeth.

The snow leopard watched him purposely and ducked under the elephant's fist again- then gave him a louring smile.

He hissed aggressively and threw a punch down at him again, which the snow leopard flitted away from before it went crashing into the sand. "I will wipe that look from your face, and kill you!" he hissed.

This time the elephant brought both his fists high and prepared to crush the snow leopard, but astonishingly he stayed in place watching as the elephant's huge fists drew near. His fists ploughed into the sand making crater and sending a plum of grains everywhere.

The elephant had the snow leopard in sights the whole time since he had commenced his attack till its end... and to his own eyes it looked like he had simply disappeared, it left him with a chilling feeling, and he couldn't help becoming fixated on where he had just stood.

Then what happened next filled him with even more astonishment, the snow leopard _reappeared_ right in front of his eyes! He knew his face was stricken, his own eyes could only have been wide with what was defined as disbelief. And the snow leopard merely looked grim.

Bizzare as it was The feline's eyes held something. Looking into them the elephant could only recognise it as his own folly.

Tai lung scanned the beast, his eyes roamed over the elephant's neck. All it would take to bring this to an end would be a well-aimed wound to the correct area, then he'd bleed out and yes, die... 'Quick and easy'. He released his claws. His paws stung. It might bothered someone lesser- but it was easily tolerable when he knew how much damage he'd inflict on his prey. Any hesitation on his own pain simply went away. This was his element, the role of the predator, and dealing in its functions came naturally to him. In this place, he never felt more at ease.

Thoughts turned darker as he drew nearer to what he was about to do, but then suddenly... something struck him. What would she think? Seeing his ruthlessness at its worst would disgust her... he knew it. She was already wary of him, and the sight of him murdering someone- not matter the reason- would only repulse her. In her eyes it would either be black of white. He didn't want to give her any reason to push him away, and even if that didn't matter she would probably be wary only because it was him doing the killing. Damn, he had to decide now. Then vexation filled him, he suddenly forgot about convenience and started rethinking his plan of attack. His posture shift through the air, and his mind- though hesitant- was made up.

Pulling back his leg the beginnings of blue energy started to discharge from it as he projected great focus. The elephant was frozen- whether it was with fear or astonishment Tai lung couldn't have cared less- but now it was too late.

Tai lung brought his swift foot down planting it on the elephant's chest causing an ethereal wave to resonate through the giant's whole body. The massive animal went rigid and his eye went white, then he started to sway on his feet.

Tai lung landed back down and allowed a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

Watching the tipsy giant sway, he considered simply knocking him down, but then he didn't have to because the giant's balance had finally given out.

Raja and his own combatant had been brawling for a while and both were still tangled in a struggle on who bites first, but they both came to a halt for a moment as they watched the formerly enraged elephant swinging on his heels as if he was drunk, neither knew what to make of it, and brushed it off, resuming their battle.

Tigress had the vulture pinned down under her foot and had the sword he carried pointed at the scavenger's throat, before she had time to decide what to do with him, she felt the sudden sensation that something was behind her. It could have to do with the fact that she felt the ground behind her give off slight a tremor. Strangely a large shadow cast over her and her enemy- it seemed to be quickly growing bigger. Turning around, she was greeted by the back of the large beast. She narrowed her eyes in shock. The giant was falling backwards- right towards her and the scavenger. She took her foot from the gasping vulture and leapt away at the last second- the vulture shrieked then there was loud thud, and it was over.

Tai lung scrutinised the fallen elephant; he was a somewhat taken that what he'd had done, though he shouldn't be, the idea of using his nerve attack through the foot instead of hand was a little far-fetched, but the method worked essentially the same, just sending the energy through a different part of his body. Although, it seemed locking the elephant's nerve points had malfunctioned for an unknown reason, because the effects were usually instantaneous but using it on the large fellow the effects had taken a bit longer to kick in.

Tai lung looked past the large mammal's unconscious form and noticed Tigress eying it strangely; she must have been close by when he had fallen. He made his way to her.

Tigress felt him behind her and stiffened slightly. She didn't need to guess who it was, she decided speak out before he did. "You almost got me crushed you know."

Tai lung made note of her body language as he gained nearer to her and frowned, even though it was almost nothing- The way she went rigid made him stir inside, but he approach her as if he hadn't noticed. "Very sorry dear, I'll make sure that next time the enemy won't get in your way."

She could hear the smile in his voice, obviously he wasn't bothered. She turned round to face him. "Where's Raja?" Tai lung didn't answer, instead he look past her. She followed his eyes and saw Raja still fighting and his opponent still standing.

Raja was beginning to get tired. He eyed the other cobra wearily he was obviously no spring chicken, but it he didn't anticipate that his opponent would last so long, let only match him. The other snake was equally worn out at least; otherwise he would have felt a bit shamefully. He just didn't have the stamina he had when he was younger although he'd grudgingly admit if he had kept up train instead of getting messed up in politics then he would have won already.

The bronze cobra flared his nostrils "You're doing well, old man I thought you would have keeled over by now."

Raja wasn't surprised by his arrogance, it came with youth and it was especially prominent in the young powerful alpha like the one in front of him. He out of shape, and this enemy was strong. Raja snarled and to which it was returned, and they prepared to attack each other again.

They charged, but then suddenly a grey contour shot between them blocking whatever they had planned to do to one another, and then they saw that it was a sword. Both of them eyed the object in shock for a moment- until they heard two other unspecified objects land on either side of the bronze cobra.

Raja smirked at and waited for him to turn around; the cobra wearily frowned at Raja then craned his head to look behind him. He saw a tiger on left and a snow leopard on his right both harbouring threatful expressions- and in that instant he wised up, they had won. The next thing he knew the sword that was fired between them was now forced against his neck which was enough to force into staying still regardless his eyes scanned the huge span of the tent and he saw his huge ally slumped around the centre close to the entrance. His mouth turned into a thin line, he looked back at Raja who looked about ready to finish him then to the other two surrounding him. He sighed, and lowering his head accepting defeat.

Tai lung smirked at him and stepped forward. The cobra had been wary of him since the moment he appeared. "Every soldier here would be alerted with a loud enough noise. You won't get away with this," he said defiantly, but the snow leopard sneered.

"If you want to live you'll make sure we do..."

The snake snorted dismissively. "I do not fear death."

Tai lung growled maliciously. "That is good, because I do not fear to kill you."

The cobra swallowed, but other than that there was no sign that he was threatened. He quivered beneath the surface. The venomous look he was receiving didn't help with the ominous growing fear that was now festering inside him. The effect of his words no matter how simply they were looked at, were very profound and now the snake _was_ afraid at least of the snow leopard's wrath, were it any other way he would have faced them unflinchingly and he wasn't thinking that way just to lessen a loss of pride.

Tai lung walked right on front of the snake and leaned down "Now you will listen to me"

* * *

The cobra stalked out of his tent and set a straight course to where he had been ordered. He managed to ignore the two bodies lying outside his tent. He had no idea if they were alive or dead, but they were at the bottom of his list of concerns right now. Behind him his unlikely company followed in silence. He couldn't believe he actually was doing this, but then he didn't expect these newcomers to finish off his general officers with such little effort. These two warriors... had beaten them down like they were nothing! He wasn't boasting to say that he was adapt, but the pair cats had an unworldly confidence and he was stricken by it. He looked to his right and saw the snow leopard bright irises bore into him without restraint, the message was clear 'One wrong move and see what happens...'

The snow Leopard's hand tighten around the Wushu sword he'd picked up from Raja. He was ready to behead the snake should he step a fraction out of line, and he made sure that the snake knew it. Raja slithered behind the snake and looked frustrated, Tai lung didn't understand why he would be- they had everything in hand, and all that was left was to leave with their unwilling captive. A leaderless army was as helpless as a... valley full of citizens. He did not laugh, not even inwardly.

He flicked his eyes to Tigress for a moment, but it was enough to notice that she was staring at him.

He chose to ignore it for now. She probably wanted to interrogate him about something meaningless, he would deal with her in time.

They had gotten halfway back to the longboat and passed by unnoticed, so far... "Sir?"

All four heads snapped in the direction of the soldier's voice- the wolf flinched. He stuttered, but managed regain his composure "Er...I-I didn't expect see you outside you tent sir." The wolf turned his eyes on his companions obviously not recognising any of them.

The snake paused and dared glancing at the snow leopard. He regretted it instantly, turning back to the wolf he put on a stern act and regarded him half-heartedly "Even I need to get breath of fresh air the odd... spring evening. Now. I'll be on my way." The wolf nodded uncertainly and went back to whatever he was doing.

"That was sly," Raja mocked. The other snake tried not to sneer, and kept leading them on.

"Why are you even here? You aren't from Singapore I can tell, so why fight for it? The place is no _real_ nation; Raja has it running into-"

Raja hissed loudly but Tai lung answered. "I have no interest in politics; my own reason for why I'm here is nothing to do with you."

Tigress followed in silence, listening to what the snake had to say, not that she was conflicted about his motives. But it did have her wondering- infact she been thinking about it since even before the snake had brought it up. She watched as frown appeared on Tai lung's face and realised she was staring. Then suddenly he turned to her realising she had been watching. She pretended as if she wasn't bothered that he'd caught her, and turned her eyes forward. She caught the boat ahead and couldn't help but sigh in relief, it was a welcome sight.

She had felt somewhat insecure and a little odd without the rest of the five watching her back. When she was out on the frequent quests for china's safety they had always been a constant, and she now was away from her home and with strangers. Spending this long away from home didn't make her as homesick as she imagined, though she still missed everyone, somehow it wasn't so... unbearable. A feeling of lightness washed over her, it actually felt _better_ without the weight of leadership holding her down.

She heard the faint sounds of talking nearby. It sounded something like 'Get in the boat' but she was too lost in thought to pay attention.

'Tigress' "Tigress." She looked up and saw Raja staring at her inquisitively. "Get in the boat." She looked past Raja and saw Tai lung who had their captive already in the boat. He had his sword aimed at the snake.

He glimpsed at her as she moved her view to the open area of beach. Tai lung dared to let his attention shift completely onto her. He followed her eyes catching on to what she was looking at 'The wide open' yet he couldn't bring himself to move, only watch frozenly, and see what she would do.

"We're wasting time, come on," Raja said impatiently.

Tigress flicked her eyes back on to the boat, and swallowed.

* * *

What's going to happen? Find out once I've finished chapter 10.

Thank you for reading! Until next time everyone, Goodbye.

**Malaysian translation**

"Saudara" - "Brother".


	10. Chapter 10

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: Long time no see everyone! I'm sorry that my posts take so long and have been so infrequent, but I have demanding studies that I really cannot ignore. I'll tell though, none of you have to worry because I AM NOT going to stop writing this... it's just going to take a while. Moving right along, the grammer and __punchuation is being cleaned up By ****__KristenTheKittyKat_ (___Thank you Kitty!) _whom is an AWESOME beta. Thats about all important news a I have.  


_Thank you - **Unolai, PhanOfTheOpera96, babycakes22, KristenTheKittyKat, Shadowess 88, Random girl person, Monica, TigressLuver, Sek, Dragongryph, International-Wonderland, wildactyuri18, Thurid the Invader, What If Incorporated, WeirdCouplesLast4ever, CristenMarie1695, Spencer, MollyChaikatuthecat, LVK, GMPod, JLWafflezMan, son of wind, Royal Blue Alchemist, DanManBazinga, Cycloprax-Tinj, Romeo5, Zeit's Glass**. You're review are always appreciated! (Not just 100 BUT 120? I'm sooooo happy!)  
_

* * *

**Aberration**

She ignored all of the eyes watching her. She went along to look past all of them. It was easy. She'd practiced ignoring the people around her for years, although at that moment, a single pair stood out strikingly. Still, she tried to look as she wasn't aware. Slowly pacing towards the long boat, she shrunk inwardly. She got the feeling that she had done much more than what her actions had appeared to be; in the eyes of Tai Lung, at least. She may as well have continued going slow now that the damage had been done. Raja was clearly confused by her and failed to see the lack of attention Tai Lung was now giving their captive.

Tigress's almost eternal pace had finally gotten her right in front of the boat, and she prepared to board. Looking up at Tai Lung, she saw his callous expression and bit her lip. She had no idea what was going through his mind. She almost preferred to know what he was feeling than have him glower with vacancy.

She looked away, and put one leg in the boat, then everything was instant. The cobra shot himself from under Tai Lung's retention, straight at her. She didn't expect it; she didn't even have enough time to gasp. The coils wrapped tightly round her, and she staggered out of the boat. Were it not for her feline balance, she would have fallen over.

Tai Lung was wide-eyed. Confusion struck him. At which point did he let his guard down...? He couldn't even remember. How could he have let that happen? He fixed his eyes on them both and found himself unmoving. She had stolen his attention with that stray eye... Stray eye? She wasn't just taking an off-handed glance at the scenery. No, she was looking to run away. But that was where the problem lay because he had made a mistake again.

Tigress wrinkled her brow in discomfort and attempted to pull away, but the snake forced her back into a stark position. She growled at the snake and prepared to do it again with more strength this time. "Don't. Move," he sneered. She heard Raja's aggressive hiss and saw him lurch in their direction, but stop in an instant when he noticed the snake's intent. His fangs came out and pressed at her shoulder, making her stiffen. Her eyes moved to where the sharp teeth pressed. If she gave him reason, he could break her skin with those fangs. That could mean death, and she was in no hurry for that.

Tai Lung's paws shook for a moment in voiceless fury. Why would she even dare? He sighed from his nose, then looked at the serpent now gripping her. His paw twisted around the sword even tighter. The distance was far, but in less than a second, he could have snapped the snake like a twig. Didn't the reptile understand just how in danger he was? The only thing he couldn't guess was how fast the snake could bite.

Tigress somehow knew by the look on his face that he was planning something, but with her so close, how could he do anything without harming her?

"You!" Tai Lung looked right into the snake's eyes as he was addressed. "Throw me the sword, or I bite her." She saw him look down at his paw, then looked to her. She stared at him almost expectantly, but he was unresponsive in any way that she could see. Tigress couldn't shake off the increasing throb in her chest. Every possible conclusion led to a grave result, and he just stared without any concern at all. He then did something that made her swallow with anxiety. He threw the sword right in front of the snake.

The cobra smirked and coiled around the hilt of sword, bringing it close. This made him slacken his grip on her neck, giving it enough space to turn. She now had more space and tried to twist her head, but the position was still too tight for her to move much. The snake brought the sword toward her stomach and pressed it there. Tigress could only breathe without getting herself bitten or cut, and snake looked too eager to do both. "Move back," he commanded. She sighed and looked at Tai Lung again, but all he did was stare with an insipid frown. Tigress continued staring at him, and a ting of disbelief began to surface in her. The cobra shook her roughly, taking back her attention. She shift her feet back and moved slowly.

Once she had moved a few meters away, the snake tightened his grip on her again. "Stop." Then he looked back at Tai Lung sneeringly. "Now you, come here!" Tai Lung narrowed his eyes. He knew where this was going, which perhaps made this much easier. Without hesitating, he made his way over to them, but made a point to move slowly. He could almost see the growing anxiousness in the snake's face as he got nearer. He stopped a few feet in front of them.

Tigress felt a wave of fear washed over her. This was happening because of her; her mind had just been so warped. She had ruined the mission, and now Tai Lung was... complying with the snake's demands...?

"Will you let her go?" Tai Lung's strident voice rang out.

She had to find a way out this. She knew Tai Lung would try something as soon as he saw an opening. Of course he would. She didn't care about anything else right now, but if the snake wouldn't give him one, then she'd have to force him to. After everything that had gone on that day, she'd gotten the impression that Tai Lung wouldn't really care about how much noise the serpent made whilst he re-subdued him. So it was left up to her.

Tigress eyed the coil nearest to her neck and grimaced. With all the strength she could gather in her position, she threw her head back, then brought her teeth down.

The snake cried out in an almost twin-toned screech, and looked at her. She saw the red in his eyes; it told her exactly what he meant to do. The sword dug hard into her stomach, and he brought his teeth down.

Tai Lung's paw had materialised just under the serpent's head, which brought his attack to a halt. His other paw forced right through the sword until it gave out, then caged around the snake's mid-section. His claws unsheathed and dug in. He tightened his grip and pried the snake from Tigress, who fell to the ground. Raja had strainingly observed this in silence until then. He could never be sure about Tai Lung's restraint, and when he had the opportunity to glimpse at the snow leopard's rage, it usually had consequences. "Tai Lung, we must go now!"

Tai Lung snarled in reply and seemed to be drawn deeper into whatever vicious state had taken him. Tai Lung let go of the snake's middle, but kept him suspended by his neck. A growl erupted, and suddenly the mood- though seemingly impossible- turned even grimmer. Raja heard the cobra release a hoarse choke. He could see the look on Tai Lung's face, an absolute murderous look. He knew where this would lead- not just for the whelp in his grasped, but for every foe oblivious to this. He turned his attention to Tigress for a moment, and his worry grew. He couldn't see her face, but she seemed to be shaking. "Tai Lung, if we don't leave, then-" He didn't know what say to make him calm down. "Tigress may not survive!"

For a moment, he thought it hadn't worked, but suddenly Tai Lung's expression transformed. Raja wouldn't have believed it, but he actually acknowledged what he had said and looked over at Tigress. Raja didn't expect his words to reach through to the snow leopard, but they did. Unfortunately, it fell apart, or seemingly. He glared back at the cobra and out-stretched his claw.

Tai Lung brought down his paw on the serpent and dropped his limp form without a care. Raja gazed unnervingly at the reptile laying dead in the sand and squinted. Had he missed something, or was there no blood? Then he looked up at Tai Lung and saw the blue gaseous aura surrounding his hand.

Tai Lung did not kill him; he wasn't dead?

He watched Tai Lung move down to Tigress and turn her on her back. She let out a grunt and held her paw to her stomach. She stared up at Tai Lung nervously, her face tensely trying to hold back from displaying how much pain she felt. Tai Lung looked over to him. "Throw him on the long boat." The snake... yes. He turned to unconscious snake and did exactly that.

Tai Lung turned back to Tigress. She'd been hurt. Her paw pressed against the wound, keeping pressure on the bleeding. Tai Lung took her paw and looked it over. Her red shirt didn't help to cover her blood up. He gently let his fingers brush over it, making her hiss in protest. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, which was very lucky, but it would need dressing. He couldn't do that here, but on the ship were the right things. His eyes flickered to her face. She looked like she was holding her breath. He could feel her amber eyes on him. He suspected that her state wasn't entirely because she was hurt; it must have been disconcerting. The whole thing seemed to happen in blur. He was a bit agitated himself... actually, very agitated. He sighed; he didn't want to deal with anything until there were back on the ship.

She felt his arms slip under her, and she suddenly found her bearings. Her former unease switched with a glower. "I can walk by myself."

Tai Lung frowned, but ignored her. He carried her to the boat and kicked it out so it would float, and then stepped in where Raja had sat and placed their undisputable captive. He'd be damned if anything else happened now.

He sat down with her placed on his lap. She was even less pleased. "I think that I can at least sit on my own!" She was trying to get rise off of him. For some reason, not hearing any response was getting to her. He still didn't answer her, though.

"Put me down!"

Tai Lung's nostrils flared. "If it was not for your carelessness, none of this would have happened!" he snapped.

Tigress looked appalled. She knew she had been careless, but it clearly wasn't only her. "You think that it was MY fault? Wasn't it YOU who was watching the serpent? Or did I miss something?"

Tai Lung snarled. She was right on that one- there was not use denying it. But it was only because he was too preoccupied watching her. She must have realised that.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I don't have arms. If I did, we'd have set off by now." Raja said butting in.

Tai Lung snorted. He hastily took the oars and began to row viciously.

Tigress would have tried to move away from him, but being in the middle of his arms didn't present to her any escape. It was as if he was scared she'd run off. With that crossing her mind, she opted to settle where she was- despite the extra discomfort of his proximity.

She truely didn't know why she looked out towards that plain. She'd bet Tai Lung had his own idea, though. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing that was grating at her. If she had ran, would he have let her...? Not that she could have gotten anywhere- there wasn't anywhere to go. But they didn't really need her help if it came down to face them all, and if she had ran, could she have gotten away? She knew that she had been far from ready when the cobra had caught her, but that Tai Lung hadn't anticipated or even seen his move had her unsettled somewhat. Something in him had altered. The Tai Lung she knew would never allow anyone to take him by surprise. It had something to do with her, maybe a lot. She played with that thought. Tai Lung had taken a great affect by her looking off-handedly, and the way he appeared to save her- yet again. She felt a sudden involuntary excitement kindle, then- She sighed. She couldn't think like this.

She didn't even understand why she asked to come along. Her presense during this outing hadn't been totally nessesary, but Raja had sponsored for her. She had made it her private role to get the task done with the least amount of bloodshed. She got the feeling that Raja had suggested her coming along for a reason close to hers. She had considered that he wanted to win without having the hassle of dealing with a martyr- perhaps that was why. She looked up and saw a harsh expression on his face as he looked off to the side- it was as if they were still in a bad situation.

She raised a brow and wondered what was bothering him. "Are you... alright?"

He glanced at her and his seriousness vanished. "Of course, I'm fine," he said with an easy smile.

She frowned, but nodded hesitantly. They had been moving for at least five minutes and the ride had turned very quiet, so she decide to shift her head and see if Tai Lung was any more calm. He was... still blank, but at least his vigorous rowing had ceased. He looked over his shoulder and smirked. She would have tried to look too but leaning up hurt.

Raja looked past the two of them and rose up. "Were back."

Tai Lung brought them in and put down the oars. He tied the boat then stood up with Tigress held in his arms. She sighed, showing her exasperation, but bit back any words of protest. Instead of immediately climbing the ladder on the ship's side, he did at least put her down, which somewhat relieved her. She composed and ignored the flicker of disappointment at standing on her own feet again. She watched Tai Lung grab the unconscious serpent and turned to her. "You go first." She nodded and climbed the ladder.

She reached the deck to be greeted by Hong, who crossed his arms and grunted in acknowledgement. Raja was up next; he glanced around and moved next to Tigress. "Where is Nisa?"

Hong shifted on his fists. "She is below deck with the lion cub." Raja nodded and moved past him, not waiting for Tai Lung. Tigress closed her eyes and felt pain shooting in her abdomen. She refrained from touching it, knowing it would only make it worse.

The snow leopard came up with the serpent hanging on his shoulder. "I trust all has been quiet since we've been gone?" Hong nodded. "Good. Tie this one to the mast." He took Tigress's wrist and pulled her past Hong, who took the serpent from him. She frowned at him, but didn't try pull away. She wondered what this was about.

He took her up the stairs into the outer cabin, which was barren, then to his quarters and shut the door.

He released her arm and walked to one of the cabinets in his room. She watched him search for what it was that he wanted and found herself becoming very wary. He took out a dull looking box and placed it on the table, then took out a carafe. Her guard was up when she saw him looked back at her intently. He walked towards her and took both of her arms in his paws. She stiffened tensely at the contact; this went unnoticed, however. Pushing her backwards, the back of Tigress's legs hit the end his bed. Her heart started racing when he push her back, but instead of laying her down, he only sat her down. He then kneeled in front of her. She was confused. That wasn't what she expected. Then he began pulling her shirt up, and the confusion was gone.

She suddenly felt trapped. "Wait!"

He looked up at her and saw the trepidation surfaced on her face. "I need to treat this cut, otherwise it may get infected," he said dully.

She paused, then the realisation caused her to redden. "... Oh," she said quietly. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed. Of course he was only going to treat her wound, but the urgency didn't help her at all. What was she supposed to think? "I thought-"

"I know."

"It's just, the way you-"

"Yes," he said sardonically.

She bristled at him; he probably did that to get her nervous. "I am more than able to do this on my own," she said adamantly.

He seemed to disagree. "Allow me to return the favor of helping you, as you did with me," he said in an almost imploring tone.

Her brow furrowed at the implication. She didn't expect him to wish to help, and she honestly didn't want it. Though she was sure he wasn't going to touch, not like this.

He did say he wouldn't kiss her without permission. Mechanically, she nodded to show him he could proceed. She moved back slightly as he rolled her shirt up, stopping just above the cut. His fingers brushing over her sides. The action went about as if he didn't even notice he'd done it, to which he continued with his head down. But Tigress had noticed and took a heavy, silent breath. He was very close, and she was getting that feeling again. Tai Lung picked up the carafe. Taking the lid off, he pulled a rag from the box and held it over the top. He turned the bottle over, letting the liquid soak into the rag.

"What is that?" She questioned warily.

"Disinfectant," he answered as he started to clean it over.

She frowned in suspicion. "It looks more like alcohol to me."

"It's the same thing."

"Don't you have anything else?"

He shook his head. "No, this is what we have and it works." He then began clearing away the blood before she could say anything else.

Tigress grimaced as he cleaned the cut. She repressed a hiss when she felt the cloth touch it. It was hard enough to manage no noise, but she found it even harder to prevent it from showing up on her face. The gods only knew how Tai Lung found the strength to withhold what he felt when he had been injured- then it hit her. Both of them had gotten hurt... because of the other in just the space of these two days. It was ironic, though it wasn't unordinary- nor was it the first time she'd taken a hit. Still, she never made such amateur slip ups, especially like today's. That was the kind of mistake she would really beat herself up for. If Shifu had seen it- she trembled at the thought. Strangely, though, she knew that it wasn't purely down to negligence. There was some other factor involved, and it had effected Tai Lung in the same way.

Tai Lung discarded the rag and took a thread and pin from the box. Tigress's eyes widdened.

"Stitches? Is that necessary?" she asked, leaning up.

Tai Lung watched her wince after her quick move and inclined his head. He put the thread through the pin and tied it, then dipped it into the carafe. "An open wound to the stomach can often be fatal... If neglected, especially leaving it like that, gives a higher chance for infection. Plus stitches will reduce scaring." He then gave her a look. "I thought you would have known such a thing."

Tigress shook her head irritably. "I know how to take care of a wound. I just didn't think it was that bad."

"Your state of paralysis told me otherwise. Besides, if you expect to move around a lot, then it would be best to keep it closed." He then kneeled back down. He paused and looked up at her. "I will be gentle," he offered.

She opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when she caught his eye. She relented. She knew that it was necessary; many had fallen ill and died from ignoring those kind of wounds. She put her hands behind her and leaned back slightly, a motion to show that he could commence.

He did, and the moment the pin touched, pain took over. She scowled. 'Oh, it hurts!' She closed her eyes and tried to focus on something else.

Tai Lung tried to make it as equable as possible. He knew it hurt. But she was like him; she didn't show her pain... That is, if she could help it. He had- every single time he'd needed to, he had done this for himself. When he had been sent on errands from the Jade Palace so long ago, the rare occurence of an injury required treatment, and he reserved that task for him alone. He didn't want any to know he'd been hurt; if Shifu had gotten wind of it then Tai Lung's frangible pride would have taken a severe blow. He was always somewhat... high-strung about it. The problem with this was that he had quite often made a mess of himself. After a while, he had gotten the hang of it, but logically it was easier to have someone else with experience do it for you.

He concentrated on trying to making it as gentle as he could, but her pained face was stealing his attention. It made him feel tenuous, but he didn't know why. He flicked his eyes back and ignore it, putting all his mind into finishing this.

Tigress didn't know if she could keep up the silence. Her mind was begging her to cry out. She looked down at Tai Lung, who was keeping his attention rapt on her center.

Tai Lung had just about finished. He removed the excess thread and put the pin out of his way. He looked up, and the sight made him take in a mute gasp. The picture entranced him. Her back was arched out invitingly, below the creamy white fur exposed, her face was conveyed with nothing held back, and her eyes... Tai Lung felt his desire swell- 'NO, no.' He pulled his mind out where those lewd thoughts were taking it. Her state was out pain and he didn't desire her pain. He suddenly felt awkward. "I'm done."

She nodded and rolled her shirt down.

He admired her threshold- many others would have shown their inner weakling from taking what she just had, raw and wide awake.

He stood up. "I'm going deal with the serpent now. You should rest for a while." He took the box and carafe back, then disposed of the unusable leftovers. Without waiting further, he stalked out of the cabin, leaving Tigress on her own.

When the door closed, Tigress fell back on the bed and allowed herself drift.

* * *

Tai Lung walked down to the center mast and saw Hong with his eyes kept on the cobra. He looked at the snake with a veiled glare. He wouldn't kill the cobra- oh no, he had a different plan... involving fire and metal.

He moved next to Hong and watched the snake stir through his half-conscious state. There were a few crewmen going about on the top deck, but most of the crew was below, which would save a bit of time. "I need you to get all the men ready on the gun deck," he said without looking at him.

Hong snapped his head to face Tai Lung with bewilderment written all over it. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself before it came out. Then resigning whatever was his orginal intended speech, he put up a stern face. "As you wish."

He watched Hong walk down into the lower deck, then turned back to the cobra, his golden eyes now ringed by a dim mirk. He walked towards him with a haughty gait and seized the rope. Pulling hard, he snapped it and caught the limp form before it hit the ground. He then performed the correct press and jabs to release the snake's nerve channels. The cobra gasped out hoarsely at being able to breathe properly again. Tai Lung dropped him carelessly, then walked past him and up the stairs that led to the helm. Turning the wheel, he changed course to have the ship in a position with the side facing the coastline. His feline sight allowed him to see through the night and identify the enemy encampment as easily as if seeing it in daylight.

Tai Lung saw that his captive was getting up now, so he leapt over the rail and landed behind the reptile. For the moment, he allow him regain his senses.

Slowly, he move himself into a more upright position. His grogginess almost made him fall back. He was on a ship. The last thing he saw was the snow leopard before unconsciousness took him. Why hadn't they killed him after what happened? It was what he would would have done. The cobra frowned and exhaustedly turned around. The snow leopard was there, bearing a sullen stare focused directly at him. He watched his bright eyes turn completely flat. The serpent paled. He felt terror seep in. He knew without a doubt that he didn't want that look to be aimed at him. But the moment between the two was broken when a gorilla came up from the ship.

Tai Lung glanced over at Hong, who nodded, telling him that they were ready. Raja came up behind him, appearing confused at what was going on. "What are you doing?" he questioned.

Tai Lung scowled at their captive. "Solving your problem, absolutely."

He then faced Hong. "Tell them to commence."

Before Raja could ask him anything else, he grabbed their captive by the throat. Ignoring his futile resistance, his claws dug in. He threw him against the side of the ship. He forced the snake to stay still and look out to the coast. He firmed his gripped on the serpent's head, making sure he wouldn't move. "You will watch this," he said, devoid of mercy.

Tigress rolled on her side unconciously. Whatever dreams had her had brought her to a calm place.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

Tigress bolted up quickly, the sting of pain she felt making her whine. 'What in the world was that?' The whole ship had shaken from it. She blinked her tiredness away and looked at the cabin doors with seriousness on her face. BOOOOOOOOOM! It happened again. Then, further unsettling her, it happened again... without stopping. She slid off the bed and walked out of the cabin hastily.

She rushed down to see Tai Lung restraining the serpent captive, both of them looking out at something. She then turned to see what they were staring at and gasped. The coastline where they had just returned was alight with fire. She looked to Tai Lung, aghast. She knew exactly what had happened. She made her presence known. "What is this?"

Tai Lung head snapped him her direction, giving Tigress a view of his formidable expression. With both glaring, the sounds of the cannons going off and the shudders of the ship were somehow drowned out between both of them.

He huffed. Obviously, she had been roused from her sleep. He then punched the snake, letting him fall. "As you see-"

"I know what I see!" she growled. "But I thought that we were only going to remove the head of this militia, not this!"

He narrowed his darkened eyes. All his focus was on her. "As you can see, we haven't even done that. So now I'm dealing with the problem."

She didn't like the way he was looking at her; his current state of mind was clearly tainted. "... Why did you even let me come along if you were just going to do something like this."

"If you recall, I wasn't." He spared Raja a glance, who wisely stayed out of it. "But you were- this entire undertaking was a farce."

She didn't know what to think. "I have now, as a solution, gotten rid of Raja's enemies. And if you think me cruel, then you're deluded. Every one of them... They would have gone to Singapore and killed everyone to attain a victory. All for their share of the pay." She watched the serpent try and pick himself up, but Tai Lung kicked him back down.

"But you should already know that, since I told you before we left." She narrowed her eyes at him. She was giving him a judgemental look- she had no right. He felt anger spike in him, but scoffed externally. "Hm. That soft righteous look you give me is a bit hypocritical. How many bandits have you taken down, thousands? I doubt my reason differs very much for your own."

Her mouth was set to thin line. He... wasn't wrong. She had done that and more, but all for the right reasons! She justified. "Alright... but what about him?" she asked, pointing to the beaten snake.

Something flash in Tai Lung's eyes. She watched him as he seemed to turn inward and growl at some kind of bad thought that was making him angry. He seethed. "He-" Tai Lung faltered, but forced it out- "hurt you."

* * *

**Short - Huáng hòu ān nī fù chóu**

Tai Lung allowed himself to rest into his seat more comfortably. He listened as his potential benefactor laid on him the prize and privilege of his agreement to joining forces. To every single reason why he should have joined would have any mortal man with an inkling of desire want to say yes. He hated Shifu- everybody knew it- and the old man would never allow this to happen. He could see it now. He would meet his old master and the panda, and destroy them... Yet, the thought didn't burn as it usually did. In fact, he found himself feeling only odd weariness.

"And if revenge or power, is not enough, then you should know that once all of China has been usurped, the Valley of Peace... would be yours!" Lord Shen procliamed keenly.

Tai Lung's eyes widdened. The Valley of Peace. Now that was a fine deal. His former Master's home enthralled to _him_. It was the ultimate insult to Shifu and everything proclaimed to be his- How could he possible refuse? In fact, the prospect of merely seeing shifu's face at the end of it should have made it a done deal. He could see Shen was hanging on his reaction. Tai Lung naturally smirked with the cavalier arrogance that he was famed for. "I will consider it strongly!" he said with... false enthusiasm.

Shen smiled, at least satisfied with his answer. "Good. But don't keep me waiting too long. Soon, I will make my move." Tai Lung nodded.

He stood up and prepared to leave, but Shen's voice stopped him. "You should also know I left you a gift of good faith in the port." Tai Lung turned to him curiously. "A 'small thanks' for your support during the raids on the smaller towns. I think you will like it."

It seemed Shen would say nothing more. Tai Lung gave curt nod then left.

* * *

That little bit at the end was insight to where exactly Tai Lung got his ship and who give it to him. I felt I needed to answer that question. I may also add more of these drabbles to answer other questions as I go along, but I'm not sure yet. What do you think?


	11. Chapter 11

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: Hey guys... It been a while hasn't it? In fact this is probably the longest the time it's taken me to update. I really have been trying to stay on top this, but there's been a lot of adversity academically for me, and the short story is all of my course work was scrapped because my clever tutors were teaching us under the wrong curriculum. Seriously, I had to do a year's worth of writen work all over again in a short space! Moving off the boring topic... All I can do is apologise. I really hope you all understand._

_Moving on! I had to think about where I was taking this story. You know, brain-storming. Anyway, what I originally planned on doing just didn't feel right to me and I had re-plan certain... stuff. The main change is making it longer because I didn't see it lasting as long as I wanted with me carrying on the way I was. _

_So yeah. Apart from that, it's all good! I think._

_Thank you for your great reviews (and PMs) - **KristenTheKittyKat, Mind Assassin, AdelindaMarie1695, Romeo5, TigressLuver, JLWafflezBrony, son of wind, Sek, amore1993, Babycakes22, chica13, anon, evilshope, Toastface, Jess, Reader, Cycloprax, redlaama, tropicalbliss, Annonymous, tanakaL, IluvLot'sOfThings-StarWars, Enigma180.** Yet again I'm really sorry I took so long…_

* * *

**Stand Fast**

The cannon fire had finally ceased, and heavy silence consumed.

Tigress looked back again at how easily she had been able to ignore the attention of others in the past, sadly it seemed completely impossible now. She hoped she hadn't totally revealed her confusion... She was deeply confused. Not nessesarily by the words them themselves, but the way Tai Lung said them. She Swallowed. It was as if he didn't want to admit it. Tai Lung hadn't made an explaination, he just stood there waiting, and she had no idea what to say.

Everything had become so damned quiet! It may have just been in her head- but why would she need even question herself in such a way?

The worst part was that it was her standing at the center. She felt as though time had suddenly stopped, and nothing would continue until she set things back in motion.

Tai Lung wasn't tense like her, nor did he seem anxious, but she somehow knew that he waiting. He was waiting for her to say something. But what she supposed to say? It wasn't her who had come out with- with that! 'He should be the one to do the talking! Not Me!' He had been the one to say it, after all.

She realised she couldn't move while he was watching her. She just couldn't force herself to action, otherwise... running off would have been the first thing that came to mind. But she quickly remembered her dilemma, and now it seemed that it was even more inescapable. She somehow knew that she would be the one to speak... even though she didn't want to. She still had no idea what she was going to say. Her stomach fell. Could nobody else step in for her? She didn't look away from Tai Lung- she felt as though it would look weak. Instead she mentally hounded for somebody to do something- anything to break the bubble she gotten trapped in.

Finally she opened her mouth- at that exact moment a loud thump started at the stairs leading below deck. Everyone around jumped at the interruption, then Tigress allowed her shoulders to fall. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Everyone present snapped their heads to the stairs, and waited for the one who had interrupted to come up.

Good, the pressure was gone... It only added to her unnerve knowing all of them had been watching. She need break, fighting she could handle, but here there was far too much anxiety for her- the ship was rank with it.

She had naively convinced herself that her worry would diminish, but soon found that it didn't... in fact it was still growing. Tigress knitted her brow, and looked back. Tai Lung hadn't acknowledged the interruption at all. He was still watching at her. Did know how he was making her feel? He was like a predator, single-minded, boring daggers at its prey... He must have seen the relief she'd displayed after the interruption. She had thought he'd looked away. She kept up an impassive expression, but she wasn't willing to meet his eyes any longer. As if she was unaware she pretended his scrutiny went unnoticed, and her eyes followed the noise just like everybody else.

Nisa slithered up with Xiaodan secured quite snuggly between her coils. The frown on the little boy's face clearly let anyone know he didn't like how he was handled.

Tigress easy noticed the troubled look on her face. She must have heard the cannons firing. The poor girl obviously had no idea what was going on. The former situation revolved around her, yet she was the only one who knew nothing about it. After all she had witnessed, including almost being killed, Tigress had been through enough. Nisa deserved to know what was going on; this secrecy was too much! It wasn't right for her and her father. She was well accustomed to wanting to protect those you care for, but there were no excuses now. It was perfectly clear that everything bad thing that could have happened ended up happening. So she decided- If Raja would not be forthcoming with her, then she would be.

Thoughtlessly Nisa let go of Xiaodan. He grinned at his freedom and quickly put a distance between the two of them. She looked out to coast and brought a coil to her mouth.

Raja swallowed. He carefully got her attention. "Nisa..."

Everyone turned their eyes on them now. Tigress blocked out what they were saying and dared to see if he was still watching. His attention was taken, by Xiaodan who was whining about something being unfair. Whatever he was talking about, Tai Lung only seemed to be half listening. She couldn't make out any more than that.

Now that his attention was finally elsewhere she could stop feeling so restless. She breathed out shakily. This was something else... She needed some time on her own. Giving Tai Lung one last look she turned to back to his quarters and made a hasty retreat.

Tai Lung watched absently as the little lion explained- with levity- the miseries he'd been through whilst Tai Lung had been away. What the boy seemed totally unaware of was that his captain wasn't hearing a word he was saying. "En- and then she started messin' with my ears!" Xiaodan shivered. "It was horrible! ..." He blinked and carried on. "Oh! She said I was small and pushy- I mean plushy... And she could just eat me! Why'd she say that? I don't wan' to be..." Xiaodan's stopped his speech. He finally figured out that the captain wasn't listening.

The boy tilted his head in puzzlement. He looked up at him again and saw the daydream he was in. He pulled Tai Lung's pant leg. It didn't seem to work. He tried again a little harder... still nothing. The Xiaodan's ear flattened as he tried to figure out why he was looking that way. He wondered what made his captain daydream.

Tai Lung pushed away the growing air of discomfort that it seemed everyone had contracted. He knew he shouldn't spoke his thoughts on the serpent so literally. It must have sounded absurd. But she did ask, and without putting nearly enough thought into it... he told her the truth. His recent lack of control had got the better him again... made him impetuous. He'd goaded for a reaction, but sensed that she did not like having to share her own opinion... That was if she had one. Unfortunately he didn't get hear whatever she was going to say. When Nisa had appeared Tigress seemed to be relieved. The silent stand-off she insisted on having told him that her guard was up. To be honest receiving total silence from her wasn't exactly what he expected. Instead of her bombarding him with insults or an instant denial, she was speechless. Part of him was disappointed. Where was the fire he found so vivacious about her? 'Hmm Tigress?'

He looked back at her. He frowned. She was gone. He looked around, but couldn't see her. The great leader of the five had run away. Well that fine, she was going nowhere. Tai Lung felt eyes on him. He looked down at Xiaodan to see the boy staring up at him in confusion. He'd momentarily forgotten where he was. Going into his thoughts so deeply had made him less attentive, but even so, he should have sensed how close the cub was. Why was his focus all of sudden so lacking? It seemed that the cub realised Tai Lung now acknowledged him.

"Are you okay?"

Tai Lung was a slight taken by the tone. It sounded as if the boy knew something was wrong. He put on a false grin. "Of course, Xiao nán zǐ, why do you ask?"

"You weren't hearing a word I was saying," the boy exclaimed.

Of course he wasn't... "Hm, what we're saying?"

Xiaodan's curiousness about Tai Lung's absent mind immediately went away. He remembered what he was going tell him before. "Nisa had been treating me like I'm a baby!" he said, throwing his hands up. Tai Lung chuckled. He practically was a baby... He shook his head. Trying to tell him such a thing would not work out so well. He couldn't find it in him to set the boy straight.

Tai Lung's grin turned into a indolent smile. "Maybe you should tell her not to then?"

Xiaodan narrowed his eyes. "I did... But the things she says only became worse!"

He couldn't think any way to appease the boy. To be honest he'd encourage Xiaodan to act more like a child. If those around treated him like one, then hopefully the cub would recognise it too, and more importantly enjoy it. It wasn't as though it would kill him, and a little contact like Nisa's would do him no harm at all. Xiaodan really didn't get enough of that kind of attention. The idea that the six-year-old considered himself a ripened adult was starting to get silly. Receiving a few... parental comforts may actually be good for him, and if not, he'd just have to endure. He wasn't sure what to say right now. He was finding it hard to think clearly right now. "If you can-"

"Whoa...!" Xiaodan's loud whisper cut him off. The Lion cub's gaze was set out to the ocean. What he saw had him totally enraptured. Tai Lung turned to where he was staring, and went rigid. He was about to tell him to go inside, but the cub ran to ship's rail and jumped up. He hung from it with his arms hooked up his chin. He stared wide-eyed in fascination at the sight. "What's that?" Tai Lung scowled.

"XIAODAN! Get down." Tai Lung demanded.

The boy looked over his shoulder. "But-"

"Now!" He snapped.

He flinched at the uncommon, yet not unheard tone. Xiaodan understood from Tai Lung's voice that he couldn't argue his way out of this. He jumped off the rail looking sullen.

"Go inside now." Xiaodan looked like he wanted to protest, but Tai Lung stopped him before could try.

"Captain's orders."

The boy flinched again and ran past him without a word. The snow leopard turned his attention to blaze, which lit up the near evening sky. He felt a little guilty for snapping at him like that. He couldn't even remember when he'd last raised his voice to the boy. But the hoard of bothersome questions it would have lined up him for wasn't something he wanted to deal with right now. How could he explain to the little boy what he'd done. He had essentially sent a whole army to their deaths. He would have to remember to make it up to him later.

The view of the coast was becoming smaller and smaller. Soon it would completely out of vision, and Raja's problems would go away. He'd certainly be annoyed if there was still an issue now.

He decided to go and see how well Raja was handling his latest problem. Tai Lung look across the deck to where the snake was discussing certain delicate issues with his daughter. His expression was very amusing. Tai Lung supposed that he could take the blame for that... to an extent... Or at least this particular problem was only brought along quicker because of him. He noticed that some of the crew were still ignoring their duties. The subtly which they always seemed to lack only made their nosiness more annoying. He cleared his throat loudly. They all turned to him, clueless that he was the one who had gotten their attention- until they saw. Then came the fear as expected. "I assume you all have something that needs doing, men."

They prepared to move, but one of crewman who didn't seem to share the fears of the others decided to speak on their behalf. "Nope, shifts have changed, were actually on our breaks," the croc informed Tai Lung casually. Jaws dropped. Tai Lung muttered the last bit to himself, then walked closer to the croc wearing hard smile.

"Oh? I suppose I've made mistake," Tai Lung said to himself. Then he addressed the croc. "Mmm... Umm hmm." Yes, I forget that some of you... are new here."

The croc nodded in agreement. "That's right. Joined back in Singapore, sir."

The crewmen's gawking faces grew even larger. Tai Lung's pleasantness died away, and instead the croc saw him sneer. "Well, this calls for an important lesson then."

The croc seemed to sense the danger and became tense. "What is... that?"

Tai Lung shook his head. "It nothing serious, I blame the crew for their lack of common sense. Honestly, they really should have told this. But, I'll tell you now. I would appreciate you'd learnt it next time you decide to speak out. Any new member of MY crew must be savvy to how things work around here."

He looked instantly relieved. "Oh right- ha! So… What is it then?"

Tai Lung took a threatening step closer. "Whenever you refer to me, you _will_ do so with the proper distinction. I am the captain. You will only speak to me once I permit you- or if I have addressed you first. Is that understood?"

The croc shared the expression of all his peers now. "Y-yes... captain."

Tai Lung smirked. "Good! It's like I said, nothing serious... unless you have no self-preservation. Be sure to tell any other _mateys_ you've come along with." He glared at the rested of them. "Now, then. ALL OF YOU!... On your way!" He watched them as they walked off. Whether they were going back to work or leisure he wasn't too bothered with them at the moment. He could hear some of the cretins muttering to themselves, but didn't try to pick on their words. The boldness that the fresh ones brought with them was undesirable. He knew it could rub off on the others. If they were clever the crew would keep the new-hands informed on how to keep out of his way.

He switched his attention to Raja. It looked like he'd missed most of the conversation. He safely assumed his friend had now told her the truth. "You always keep things from me! You NEVER let me go anywhere and I'm sick of it!"

"Yes, I have concealed many things from you- but all of them ONLY because I wish for you to be safe!" He had confessed it all, and was having hard battle dealing with the aftermath.

Nisa looked hysterical. "Oh, REALLY!? Well, what about never letting me go outside the estate? It's always been this way since I was a little kid!"

"It's as I have expained... Coming here was to put an end to that," he said in gentle tone, obviously trying to turn the circumstances of this outing to his favour.

She was ready to scream at him, but then a strange look appeared in her eyes. Her brief pause did not bode well. Her next words seemed much more deliberate. "So now that these mercenaries are gone and you've taught the Malaysians a lesson, there's no reason I can't leave the palace anymore, right?" She asked in a... confirming tone.

Clearly he didn't like this. Tai Lung never thought it possible, but it almost looked like Raja turned pale. The serpent had the expression of someone who had nowhere run, and he knew it. "Err... It seems to look that way."

Nisa didn't jump for joy as expected, but instead wore snippy smile. "Good. Alright then."

Just like that she left her father alone and went off in direction of the cabin. He almost felt sorry for his friend, but honestly, even Tai Lung recognised that Raja had to let the girl be at some point, allow to her spread her wings, so to speak. Tai Lung made his way towards him. "You let her walk all over you," he drawled.

Raja frowned, but didn't look his way. "Where is Tigress- or did you scare her off?"

Tai Lung snorted. So that was how it was? "In all seriousness, I didn't think you'd get her to let off so easily. She seemed... very upset with you."

Raja faced him. "She was, but I don't think I am let off really... Putting that aside where did the young master of yours run off to?"

"Maybe to my cabin, why do ask?"

Raja made a movement that seemed to resemble a shrug. "... I was merely concerned for her."

He said stayed momentarily silent, and sized up the Black Cobra. "Concerned?"

Raja looked thoughtful. "Hmm, yess. Being at the brunt of your severe fixation for that long would have made anyone else crawl."

He thought he heard something akin to acrimony in Raja's tone, this took him off guard slightly. "What is the premise of this...?"

Raja push himself up and reclined giving him extra height. There was a harsh edge in Raja's voice that had now made itself known. "The way you were watching her. You left it all laid bare! Especially when you were waiting for some great answer which obviously was not going come. It was showed to everyone around you- with a brain enough to see it!" He paused. "It was hard even for me. Your lack of containment in that moment was feable, how you let yourself slip is beyond me... You disapoint me. But I am impressed with her. The poor girl seemed to not be effected in the least by it."

He actually found that he struggled to talk-back to Raja. He could have been totally honest- he couldn't have cared less about anyone else's feelings on the matter, but had difficulty processing things now. "Whatever you saw- and anyone else for that matter, is no one's Business!"

Raja hummed. "Just letting know encase you were... _unaware_," he said coyly.

"I've heard enough!" He snarled. Tai Lung knew precisely what was implied, and Raja should have known it was a push too far.

"Fine, fine. I'll leave it at that then."

Tai Lung looked him over with disdain. He didn't stay any longer. Pushing himself to walk away- he refrained from letting himself become anymore frustrated. He meant it when he said that it wasn't anybody's business, which made him wonder. What did Raja care about the way he looked at her? And what the hell did he mean it was 'laid bare'? He had practiced hard to display only a few of his... feelings, and had trained equally hard to maintain a degree of control of his anger. He clenched his jaw. No, his vicious side couldn't have been exposed. He hadn't let himself get angry, he knew it, which brought him back to what Raja meant... Whatever the snake saw apparently everyone else saw it too. He made her crawl up? Well not from a visible point view, she appeared to be calm on outside.

He knew he could project on to others. When he wanted someone to know he felt angry- they knew it. That usually went for any other feeling he wished to advertise. Perhaps he had... done the same this time, without realising. If so, she appeared to have handled it fine whatever he was feeling. Honestly... he didn't what he felt. He had reached his door. Somehow he didn't even know how he had gotten to it without... He was slipping. What she did she think of... what he'd said? Had he made her even more wary of him?

He gripped the handle and pushed the door open. Walking in, he saw her immediately. She squared up, but had her back to him... She wasn't even paying attention to him even though she knew he was there. He frowned. So she was going to ignore him and what he'd said? He couldn't find any signs that gave away her feelings whilst looking at her backside. He'd admit that he would have accepted this, but as he assessed her form, he could see nothing with her wearing those ridiculously man-like clothes.

There was something different about her. He decided to play cautious.

Tigress heard him come in, felt his presence. She frowned in worry, then in Anger at herself, and at him- because now she was unable to rid herself of the affliction he had somehow forced upon her. It was eating at her. She heard his footsteps- felt the vibrations. Why was it every time she felt his eyes on her it made her shake. She at least had the reprieve of it stopping when he wasn't watching, but now even that was failing! The anticipation of waiting for him to reach her; it sent her into an ultra sensitive state. She didn't keep her back to him any longer. Turning to him, she saw Tai Lung stood in front the table. He brought his hands up and began untie the now well-worn bandages. His eyes were on his hands instead of her. For some reason she felt her bold attitude return at that moment.

She had done some more thinking about all that happen, not just the battle, but everything since she'd been taken... and she had come to a decision.

"You left rather hastily." He said lightly.

She was a little surprise he wasn't upset. "Yes. Tai Lu-"

He cut he off. "Did I take you by surprise?" He chuckled. "It seems to be happening a lot with me lately."

She shook her head. "We need to stop."

This seemed to catch Tai Lung off guard, again. He pulled away the last of the bandage and examined his hands. He looked them over, clenching them a few times, then he turned to her. He appeared to be considering her words. "We _need_ towhat?"

Her mouth was set itself into a thin line. "Whatever it is that we have going on between us has to finish," she said slowly.

Tai Lung grunted. He walked around the table and stopped in front her. "Is that so? Then explain first, what exactly it is we have going on. Go on, make it real."

She thought he'd get me angry, but it did not stop her. "I... don't know. But it's not healthy."

The look on his face turned rabid. She knew then that she'd said something to set him off. "That's right! You DON'T know. Neither do I... and if it escapes you, I've also noticed the _weakness_. How unpoised, how _unthinking_ I've been... It's only gotten worse as time has passed. Good enough reasoning to cease whatever you'd call it," he agreed. "Yet for some greater reason... I wish to explore this." She felt an odd wave of warmth rush through her. "Don't get me wrong, there is part of me that would want nothing more than to cut loose of it, and return to my ordinary way of living, but despite that, I can't stop thinking about you." Her eyes went wide. She could see it... the umbra in his eyes. It may have been well hidden right now, but she could see it practically ready to force its way through.

"That's not-" He grabbed her arms.

"Honestly, why do you keep pushing? You are less wise to it than I am," he said shaking her gently. She could feel his hands shaking were he had hold of her.

She frowned at him and tried free herself, but his grip tightened. "Let me go."

"Why should I?" He pulled her to him. He brought his mouth to her ear. "I know you want to," he whispered. She could feel his breath tickle her neck.

She wasn't at her full strength thus she couldn't exert herself. She could still feel a twitch of irritation at her belly, even though she was hardly moving, and she knew that twitch would turn to fire if she put too much stress on it. The state he was in right now made him unpredictable. She had no idea what he was going to do, and she would only hurt herself worse if she stressed her wound. His arms slipped around her. She tensed. "You said you wouldn't_—_" She found herself unable to say it.

He gave her a salacious smile, which was somehow... appealing. "Kiss you_—_? I did, didn't I? "Well, that certainly is a loss for me. But it's certainly not the only thing I can do to you." He ran hand down her back.

She felt an irrepressible shiver run through her, not out of fear or even disgust, though she wished it had been. The fact was if she had to admit where it came from, she'd have picked the complete opposite. She felt his hands behind her shoulders. They seemed to pause there for a moment. "It's odd... Before I took you, the thought of you was just a passing thing... but now there is no escape." He began kneading his knuckles in. The feeling was... pleasant... and her tension slowly bled away. "You haunt me..." He sighed, almost as though he had trouble saying these things. He brought his hand up to her neck and watched her as she began to un-knot. She felt her muscles become loose_—_and he became bolder, pressing away her fatigue. He pressed his hips into hers. She felt... _hot_. Her eyes became heavy-lidded, and he allowed her to sink onto him. "At least you admit that there is _something_ between us," he murmured.

He maneuvered her arms above his so that they were resting over his shoulders. He pushed her chin up so that she would look at him, but she avert her eyes and looked down. "Tigress...?" He leaned down slight to get her attention. She sighed. She felt contented in his grasp...

She was blank for a moment, then a scowl broke out. She quickly pushed herself off him and took a few steps back.

He watched her glower at him as she tried to hide the confliction in her eyes. "I won't let this go any further," she said in hard tone.

This time, Tai Lung was truelly angry. "Perhaps I made a mistake, and shouldn't have said anything!" He spat.

"NO! I've made the mistake... of _ever_ letting _you_ touch me!" She said venomously.

Tai Lung really looked genuinely surprised, whether it from her tone or the words themselves... he actually looked... stunned! It brought her some satisfaction to put him off balance_—_then he quickly regained composure, displaying an all too familiar look of rage. He was suppressing, she could feel it.

Perhaps she had pushed him too far? But didn't look like he was ready to speak... so, rashly, she went on. "I've allowed myself to forget where I was, and who you are. But isn't going to happen again. You are Tai Lung: the demon of Yōumíng. You destroyed my home, abused and killed so many people without any reservation, any thought of mercy! Innocent people, who never deserved the pain you caused them... You're a monster." Despite being deep in the heat of her words, she took a pause searching his face for any emotion, but he only gave her a look of intense rage. "I am Tigress: a warrior set against ALL your wrong doings. I know my following and it doesn't have anything to do with_—_with you! I've lived my enture life, uncompromising! I wont let it go now. I've suffered enough... because of you." She had been so senseless lately, and it was all down to him. She was ashamed. Even just now she had almost forgotten what she had been planning to say to him. Fortunately, she managed to keep a level head this time... but what would have happened she had let it go further? What would Tai Lung have done... What would she have let him do?

She grimaced. What would her friends _think_ if they saw her? Or worse! What would Master Shifu think of her if he'd seen what she had done? The very thought sent an icy shiver down her spine.

Not even waiting for to hear what he would say next, she made for the door and rushed out of the room.

Tai Lung did not follow. He let her run. For whatever reason, he couldn't bring himself to go after her.

All of it was true. But he that didn't mean he needed to be reminded of his misdeeds. She saw him in only one light. He knew better... It was also true that she did represent the reverse of his infamy. The 'light to his darkness'- he almost laughed the idea. Image aside, and anything anyone thought him- did not bother him in the least. She may have said that she was his opposite, but did not mean that she truly was. They were very much alike. What he really wanted to know was what she meant by: 'I've suffered enough because of you'. He hadn't treated her cruelly in any way he knew of? It that made no sense, and she couldn't really blame him for getting injured, if that was it. So what in the world had she been talking about? Whatever it was had been enough for her to push him away.

He was still thrown off by her defiance; it was vexing him more and more as time went by. He sighed in frustration. What. Was happening to him? His orthodox was crumbling, but why she the cause of it...

He rubbed his temples. Maybe it would be better for them both... if he got rid her?

* * *

Thoughts...?

**English - Chinese**

Little man - Xiao nán zǐ


	12. Chapter 12

**Ailurophile**

_Author note: I haven't done Disclaimer in a while... Not that it really matters, considering the reason for this site (In the Name). - Kung Fu Panda is owned by DreamWorks. _

_Please forgive me for being so late! Again! You should all just call me the Inconsistent One. I know that many of you enjoy this story, and prompt me every so often. But believe me, it's not easy to writing all this, along with finding the time. _

_First I'll do let's say- 500 words. I'll stop. Analyse that 500 words like freakin' obsessive compulsion! And if it doesn't sound right in my head, then I don't think anyone else would be entertained. I'll end up scraping it sometimes, but most of the time I'll try to turn it into something that I like the sound of. I'm telling you guys because I want you to know why it takes so long... and unfortunately will probably continue to take a long time._

_Some of you said some fun things. Gave me a nice giggle! Thanks for your reviews **- FreedomsHeart0108, Babycakes22, Annie121998, kadienewberg, redlaama, Kbones007, femmebelle, tropicalbliss, TigressLuver, Sek, Guest, livie1313, MercenaryCrime, IntolerableAssumptions, AnaBookWorm, SabreNate654, Natsu-z, Reader, NourMMoustafa, XxDevilQueenxX, Tigerlover, kie-chan214, susandragon01, Bowtie Lion, Chocol, Alez23, Claire5, PokeBakuFanfics.**_

* * *

**Incitement**

The Rhino marched pompously through streets of Singapore as if he 'Owned It All'.

Now that he and a few others had finally gotten off of that crappy ship_—_they weren't getting _glares_ at there backs. That meant they could do what they wanted! He hadn't felt this kind of freedom in years, and with his freedom he could finally vent off his frustrations on this _Water_ town... He was twitchy just thinking about it; he could barely contain himself! The only thing to do now was to decide how it was going happen. He had a few ideas... but couldn't decide on which would be the most fun.

A massive grin grew on his face.

He kept moving in the direction where the most people seemed to be coming from. He would definitely find something they could do there. "Oi, Qiao, I'm bored out my mind... Now that Vachir ain't watchin' us, do ya think we can have some fun?" One the others asked hopefully.

He didn't look over, but answered right away. "Don' worry, I'll find a way ta entertain us!"

Then he spotted the perfect target.

* * *

It could safely be said that Shifu was a specialist in the ageless art of violence. It was often the first medium towards getting what he wanted- _only_ in situations such as these.

The inhabitance of the city were totally ignorant to the brazen impacts that echoed from the dark back-street.

Vachir was relentless. He launched another large fist at the already thoroughly beaten Bull. Shifu frowned. Although the Bull was clearly a criminal, he was still qualified to some mercy.

He wasn't taking part in the interrogation, he was only spectating. But he wanted to make sure no unnecessary fatalities occurred. He made it no secret: Shifu was not fond of Vachir, and he was making a point to stay as professional as possible with the former Warden. He honestly didn't have any real relationship with the man before now, despite that it was him who was Tai Lung's keeper. Now that he had gotten to know him a little more, he decided he did not like the Rhino. He couldn't fully explain why, but aside from the obvious unpleasantness, there was something about Vachir that was off.

Thus far, the rhino's determination had been boundless. From the mere state of Vachir's appearance, it should have given him enough reason to just let go of his vendetta against Tai Lung. Surely after Tai Lung's escape he knew the outcome would not be worth the losses. But then... it could be equally said that his _state_ may easily offer a motivation to hunt Tai Lung down till one or the other was truly dead. It was a grim message to anyone who saw Vachir. To whom ever knew of Tai Lung- it told them of the price for crossing the Snow Leopard. He was still a put off by the Rhino's appearance, and that on top of his estranged obsession with getting Tai Lung was... even more repelling. He wanted to find Tigress safe and as fast possible, of course. But Vachir leadership methods were malicious. Shifu had seen the prominent signs through how excessively he was pushing his men, and was given no other choice but to watch Vachir's actions with great scrutiny.

_It had been plainly obvious for days. Shifu had agreed very eariler on that their departure had to be kept in good time, and so they expected to move swiftly. Yet, their speed had been MUCH greater than any of them had expected! It was only a matter of time before Vachir's men wouldn't be able to take it. Then it happened- one of them collapsed on deck in exhaustion. Vachir caught it right away. He was at the Rhino side in an instant, but instead of helping his man, Vachir's fist wrapped around the other Rhino throat."I don't know how many times I need to explain this to you idiots," he hissed.  
_

_He squeezed tight, and pulled to man to his feet. All of the other men did not react to the display at all, they didn't even look... in fact they only began to work harder. Shifu saw it all, and watched with growing fear as the Rhino wheezed for a breath._

_"There is _NO_ Rest for you! Do ya think Tai Lung is resting... right now? No, he isn't! N' y'know why? BECAUSE HE'S OUT THERE! FREE! TO DO____—_WHO KNOWS WHAT WRONG!"

_Shifu couldn't believe what he hearing. Vachir was totally blind to his own hypocrisy. He jumped to action, and ran straight towards the former Warden. "You will stop this at once, Vachir!" Shifu growled. The former Warden looked at Shifu unexpectedly. _

_Shifu furrowed his brow. There was a... foulness to the Rhino eyes. The former Warden looked back his subordinate, and released him. Shifu scowled deeply. He spoke slow and seethingly. "These Rhinos may be your men... but this ship... and this task... is under my charge! In future, if you are in any way displeased with any runnings- you will come to me first, is that understood?"_

_Oddly, Vachir seemed somewhat... at a loss._

Immediately after he took full control of everything. He had naturally slowed the ship down, giving the Rhinos a respite. They're wellbeing aside, what good were they if they couldn't even walk?

Again, Vachir punched the bull, this time in the stomach. He fell to his knees, coughing out hoarsely.

Vachir stepped back and accessed his work. A grin emerged on his face, seemingly proud of what he'd done, then he went to grab the battered Bull by the scruff of his shirt. Shifu could see that Vachir wasn't anywhere close to finishing with him yet. He shook his head. This needed to be brought to an end. Shifu rushed forward. He closed in and brought his staff down on the Rhino's arms hard enough to warn him that he'd done enough. Vachir snapped his head at Shifu baring an annoyed expression.

"You have done more than enough. Now, I'll take it from here." The former Warden regarded him for a moment, then shrugged. He released the Bandit, letting him fall, then stepped away giving them space. Shifu turned to the battered Bull and spoke quietly to him. "I can't hold him back for long, and so I hope you will tell us where the Ship has gone... You do not owe Tai Lung anything." He wouldn't really allow Vachir to continue, but he didn't need to know that.

The Bull looked behind Shifu, and his face went flat. Vachir leered at him from where he leaned on the wall. He stared at him coldly. As if beating the bull wasn't already enough to keep the Bandit complaisant. Shifu would have preferred to have been alone with him at this point. It wasn't anything to do with Vachir getting in the way, Shifu dared to admit that Vachir might have wanted to find Tai Lung even more than he did. But he truly he wasn't eased by the former Warden's presence. He took back the Bull's attention, clearing his throat. The brigand shook his head quickly. Clearly he still didn't want to tell them anything. "I already told ya! I dunno! He left nearly two days ago with some snake... Was-"

Shifu cut him off. "Snake? What snake?" The Bull shook his head again. Shifu narrowed his eyes. "Describe him."

The Bull look thoughtful. "He was, umm... A Cobra!"

Shifu furrowed his brow. "Yes?" he urged. He was becoming increasingly more curious about this now.

Shaking frantically, the bull seemed to run it through his mind. "He was big n' black... I think. Y-yeah, I'm sure he was!"

Shifu looked at the ground- processing this. It couldn't have been... No. He pushed the thought back. "Was there a Tiger with him?"

The Bull eyes widdened. "Yeah! There was... S-she was with'im before we got here! We took her from Hong Kong!"

Shifu nodded to himself. Tigress had been seen with Tai Lung... but was she safe? He looked back at the Bull intensely. "Was she wholesome when you last saw her?"

The Bull's expression changed. He seemed to forget about Shifu for a moment. "She looked alright when I saw 'er..." Shifu watched the brigand's face morph into something odd as he reminisced. Shifu arched a brow and felt a pang of enmity.

He smacked his stick on the Bull's head, making him hiss. "YOU WILL TELL ME _EVERTHING_ YOU KNOW! FROM THE BEGINING!"

The Bull stared at Shifu for a moment- he choked back a whimper. Now they both looked like they wanted to kill him. He _had _to pour out what he could... or-or he was goner. "W-we all knew she had been taken before we left- but we didn't see 'er till a day after." The Red Panda said nothing, only watched him coldly. He took this as permission to go on. He shakily retold everything he could remember from exactly what he'd said about the Tiger the day he'd been almost shot by that Cub- until being cast-out from the crew. He including all the details he could remember in between... and hoped he'd get out of this with his life. When he finished his story Shifu basked in the silence for moment, then gripped the Bull's shirt.

"This is everything you know?" he growled.

The Bull nodded without hesitation. "YEAH! I promise!"

Shifu gave the Bull a look of finality, to which the Bull seemed to take as bad sign. "W-WAIT! He's definitely comin' back! I-I don't when, but I know he is!"

He supposed that was everything of importance he was going to get. He could already tell that he was far too cowardly to hide anything from them. He turned away from the Bull and started his way back into the more welcoming area of the district... He soon picked up on lack of foot steps behind him. Vachir was not behind him. The Rhino continued to stare at the Bull. Instead of following Shifu... he started moving back towards him... with a clear goal in mind. Shifu peered back at Vachir and caught on. He snapped round, and glared at the former Warden. "Stop!"

Vachir looked over his shoulder and gave Shifu a confused stare. "Stop? He's scum. He ain't worth nothin!"

Shifu's grip around his staff tightened a little. "If he's worth nothing, then certainly he's not worth you killing. We shall let him go," Shifu said with a hard voice.

Vachir frowned showing his disappointment. Something grim appeared in his eyes... but it vanished before Shifu could confirm it, then he obeyed. "Fine, whatever you say." He huffed, and left the Bull alone. He walked past Shifu without a glance.

Shifu completely disregarded Vachir. He looked back at the Bull sternly. "On your way."

He was instantly Relieved. Getting up quick, he staggered over his own feet in rush to get way as fast a possible. Shifu watched the Bull drag himself away until was he out of sight. Shifu hummed softly to himself. The miscreant had been very reluctant to tell them anything, which led him to believe that he was very afraid of Tai Lung. He was unconcerned with why exactly that was, because honestly... he knew full well why anyone would be fearfully of him. No- all it did was make him more concerned for Tigress... A sudden desolate feeling washed over him. For all he knew she could have been- He shook his head sharply. It was pointless to upset himself further. He knew she was alive... he could feel it.

He followed in the direction Vachir had headed, leaving the back street behind.

Shifu Looked to the sky. The night would come soon. Perhaps his students had been fortunate enough to find out more.

"MASTER!" How convenient.

He turned right and spotted Po easily, he also saw Vachir, only the former Warden was walking away from him. Then he saw the two of them pass one another. Vachir barged passed Po smacking his shoulder- all the time giving him a filthy look. Po gave Vachir a wary frown, but quickly shook his head and carried on towards Shifu.

"Guy's seriously too big for his boots," Po muttered to himself, but Shifu heard and secretly agreed.

"Master Shifu." Po clasped his hands together in quick bow.

Shifu regretfully admitted to it. He treated Po very unfairly when Oogway had announced him the Dragon warrior... He had done it because Po resembled what he thought was none of the Kung Fu practitioner's values, this repelled him, and so he stood against it. It had started with having Po throwing himself in kwoon, then with the Five... one after the other... Even pitting himself against Po personally. It was not a treat for anyone whose knowledge of combat was non-existent.

"Dragon warrior." Shifu return his bow.

He had tried everything he could to get rid of him. Nevertheless, all his efforts to get rid Po fell flat. After all the events leading to now, defeating Tai Lung, and then bring down Lord Shen, saving China two times over! He was genuinely joyful. He had been proven wrong about Po being a flabby failure. Po was far from a failure. He had found peace in knowing that when he was gone, Po would safeguard china. Something he had been without for as long he could remember... Despite all his regrets, he had to have done something right.

Po assumed a quiet tone. "So ah... You find out anything?"

Shifu nodded. "Myself and Vachir overheard a Bull boasting of his feats while under a certain Snow leopard."

He brightened. "Really? That's great!" He gave Shifu a questioning look. "What he' say?"

"That Tai Lung is gone."

Po's face fell. "Oh."

"But, he will return soon. The Bandit seemed to know this with certainty," Shifu added.

This seemed to raise Po's spirit, but he still maintained an air of seriousness that was unlike the usual happy-go-lucky attitude Shifu had gotten used to seeing. Po suddenly looked like he wanted to ask more but Shifu spoke before he had the chance. "And you? Did you manage to learn anything amongst the cities people?" He'd much rather explain what he had learnt to Po and the Five all at once then do it multiple times. Shifu started to walk on a path leading back to their ship.

Po shook his head, and followed behind. "Not really. We found these Dogs that mentioned Tai Lung, but they didn't know anything."

Shifu sighed.

"PO! MASTER SHIFU!" Ahead of them they saw Monkey speeding in their direction.

The moment he reached them they both noticed the distress on his face. Po looked at him in concern. "What's up?"

"Vachir's men! They're attacking the people!" Shifu scowled. He should have known something like this would happen. Their activities off duty were few- since there hadn't really been an _off duty_. Vachir's men acting were like a mob didn't come as a surprise... He should have interfered with their schedule. He regretted not doing it now. If he had taken charge of Vachir's men earlier he might have caught on to their tensions, given them an outlet, but it was too late for that now.

"Well? Why are we standing here? Let's go!" Po jumped to action and ran wherever he assumed this was happening.

Shifu shook his head. He looked to Monkey questioningly, who caught on. "Oh Right... PO! It this way, the others are already there!"

Po skidded to a stop and turned back awkwardly. "Right. I knew that."

* * *

There were ten angry rhino's glaring at her, thinking that they were intimidating. Viper glared right back, not intimidated at all.

Viper set herself firmly between Vachir's lackeys and the tiny tortoise hiding behind her. Viper looked over at him for moment, checking him out, and could easily tell that he was only a youngster. Whatever problem these dopes had with him- it had to be meaningless. A Vulture, who'd apparently tried to helping his friend was laying in pain a few feet away. She could only guess that he must have spoken his thoughts on their behaviour... and these boys hadn't taken it well. She wasn't naive; yet something like this happened with people who were supposable on her side... The thing was she just didn't expect it. She'd never seen this kind of behaviour from them until now. Vachir had always been there, and they had acted just fine. So she allowed herself feel optimistic. She hoped Chorh Gom's former guard had kept a little discipline after... the 'incident'.

She hissed loudly. She wouldn't normally get this annoyed, but she couldn't help it. Why were they suddenly so volatile? They were supposed to be professionals! On one side of her, Mantis was stiff. One of his antenna twitched in anticipation. He hadn't said anything yet, but it was easy to tell he was holding in whatever he felt about these idiots. A crowd people had gathered. They were curiously watching this play out. Her only problem with them was that their presence could only end up making thing worse.

"Come on guys. Do we really have to do this? I mean, fighting for something so small is waste, don't cha' think? There's clearly been a misunderstanding." Of course, if Crane didn't try to be voice of reason in all this...

The one in front seemed to be the ring leader, and spoke up for the rest of them. "I... ain't mis-un-der-stan-din' anythin! That little creep tried ta' strike me over!" Crane frowned. The fellow's intelligence was showing, if it could be called that. "Ya think we'll let people push us around, like you would?" He sneered, then spun round. "Hey guys? We gonna let these Kung Fu _Masters_ push us around?" He barked.

They all answered loud and sonorously.

The vulture moved into upright position and gave them all a look of disgust. "Y-you BIG ARSES! Were the ones- Ooh... "The ones who tried to step on him! It's not his fault you're all TOO stupid to look anywhere below you damn horns!"

One of the Rhinos in the back growled. "What-hejus' say!" He attempted to get near, but Mantis flitted in his way. The three of them could all understand why the Vulture was upset, and he was perfectly justified, but they still would have preferred him to stay quiet.

Viper continued to behold the Rhinoceros. Their mentality and manner- it just made her mad. Coming here, finding the smallest person they could and harrassing them for amusment. They were just, just bullies, cowards! "This is ridiculous; you all REALLY need to grow up!" She knew as soon as she said it that there would be trouble, but she couldn't stop the words from coming out.

They all turned back to her, and began roaring umbrage. From her point of view all it did was make them look even more like criminals. And where exactly were the peace keepers in this city? She hadn't a single guard here, most places around here seemed to only be looking after their own. It wasn't that she needed help or didn't like her chances. She knew could take them easily, even on her own, but there was no way this city was lawless.

"You better watch your tongue, snake..." The ring leader hissed.

Viper sighed. She wondered if there ever a point in their lives where they had been nice. "Listen. We don't want to fight, but if you don't back off now, then we will-"

"LO! WE'RE HERE!" Viper perked up and followed the voice, which was coming from... somewhere near the back of the crowd. She signalled at Crane who would have been able to see into the throng much easier than any one else. He flew up and perched himself on a lantern post giving him higher ground. The sides of his bill down turned. He shook his head. He looked back at her and shrugged. Eventually the source of the voice reached the front of the crowd and pushed through. "Move please_—_! NOW!"

"Who er' you?" The rhino spat rudely.

The first one turned to the rhino raised his chest in an effort to look bigger; unfortunately he'd never look bigger than the rhino's leg_—_even with all that fur. "We're the City Watch!"

It wasn't just one person, it was a pair, and telling the truth Viper couldn't help feeling disheartened. They looked underwhelming. The first one couldn't be recognised. He looked like a giant ball of fur, with the obvious arms, paws and legs, but aside from the armour, she... couldn't really determine much from the shape of him. His partner on the other hand was a little easier to make out, she could tell that this one was a Dog. He was smaller and more on the thin side, with very short fur.

Mantis blinked. He gave them an amused smirk. "What? You, two? Sorry, but neither of you look big enough to handle a city to me."

The lanky dog gave him a dry look. "Not like you can say much in that department, little friend."

Crane shook his head. "He's right, you can't say much."

Mantis frowned in realisation. "They're right, I can't say much."

The Rhino looked between the Guards and the Kung Fu Masters. He grinned to himself. "HEY! If you er' the guards, then you got to protect! So why don't you do yer job en' take that guy away?" He pointed at the cowering turtle behind Viper.

She felt the little one shrink even more. "You're unbelievable! Why don't just back-off! Before-"

"BEFORE WHAT? You can't do anythin' t'me! Yer the good guys_—_ you don't break the rules." He said pointing at the pair. "Especially in front of the authority." The Rhino crossed his arms and smirked, somewhat pleased with the stroke of intelligence he'd come out with_—_ but then the unexpected happened.

"Actually, were here for you, big man. Even more so if they are 'Good Guys'," the lanky dog crossed his arms. "We know you're causing trouble, so there's no point in playing the victim. How many guys do you have you? A dozen? It doesn't take genius to know what's really going on here."

The Ring leader looked baffled for a moment, then he curled his lip. "Oh yeah? How ya' gonna stop us? There's more of us and were ALL bigger than you!"

The fur ball curled his arms aggressively. "We're a lot tougher than we look."

The Rhino scoffed. "Yeah right... I'd crush both of ya' with one hand."

"Go ahead and try it then!" Fur ball growled.

The Thin Dog stepped in front of his partner, while facing the rhinoceros. "If you scatter, then we won't shame you in front everyone."

The rhino's eyed widened. "Sh-shame us?"

Fur ball taunted over his partner. "Yeah! You and ALL the Pond-Scum you brought with you!" The Rhino began squeeze his fists, the Fur-ball noticed.

"Did Hit I a nerve slack-jaw?" He jeered.

He looked enraged. "You little..." Lowing his head, he growled and charged at them. The two of them hunched low, ready to move.

"ENOUGH!"

He froze_—_ halted immediately. His rage was struck out like he'd never gotten upset in the first place; now he looked petrified, and so did the other Rhinos too. Viper was a little disturbed now. What made his anger suddenly disappear? It looked like she wasn't the only one who was trying to make sense of this. Crane and Mantis both looked about surprised as she felt... as a matter of fact they looked grimly fascinated, but they weren't looking him- everyone had turned to her? Or whom was behind her... 'That's right! Someone had spoken out. She turned around.

It was Vachir... He had interrupted.

She'd expected- well hoped that it was... Shifu or Po. But looking at it logically, Vachir was the one they would listen to. She had seen what Vachir could do- and from how he looked after his men- it was to inspire fear from others. She tried feel better that _someone_ HAD appeared, but for some reason her heart wasn't really in it.

Vachir loomed past her without taking his eyes of the other Rhino. The soldier dared to face his leader, and watched the former Warden slowly gait towards him. "S-sir... I" Vachir raised his hand and the soldier went quiet. He stopped in front of the other Rhino and clenched his hands tightly. "I told you not to bring any attention to yourself, Qiáo." The Rhino paled. Vachir growled quietly. "There's gonna punishment for this," he informed him. His men suddenly looked ill. Qiáo opened his mouth- but Vachir tightened his narrowed eyes telling Qiáo that he did not want a reply. "You will answer for this on the ship, where there's no more unwanted attention you can attract."

"Yes, sir." Qiáo answered weakly.

"Now, go." He ordered.

Without a word he left with the others following in tow. Vachir glanced at the crowd distastefully, then stalked behind his men. "Hey, wait!" Vachir turned to Viper. She almost hesitated, but gave him an artificial smile. "Thanks," She said gratefully. It seemed like the right thing to do. He smiled back, but it twisted and looked like he was almost sneering. She could feel her own heart beating as she waited for him to react. He clearly hadn't meant to look friendly. Crane and Mantis move next to her. Vachir did nothing else, but turn and continue on. She swore she could hear him chuckling.

"What a creep," Mantis muttered to himself.

"Maybe, but he did manage to call off his men before things turned bad." Crane turned to Viper. She was pacifying the little tortoise she'd been watching over.

"It's okay... No one's gonna hurt you now." He looked hesitant, but moved out from behind her. She smiled at him. "You should go and look after your friend. He got hurt, didn't he?" The tortoise nodded hesitantly, after a second he ran over to the Vulture who had taken a beating earlier.

Viper turned to her friends. "We should probably meet up with the others and fill them in." They both nodded in agreement. She wasn't looking forward breaking the news, but as least Master Shifu's mood wouldn't be directed at them. They were Vachir's men, and since he was their leader- it would be him, and not them that Shifu would get upset with. That seemed most likely thing to happen... hopefully.

"Hey wait just a minute- someone still has to go jail!" The three of them turned to the Fur-ball wearily.

His partner glanced at him frowning. He shook his head. "We were only defusing the situation. Besides, we couldn't have taken them ALL on if they had attacked us!"

Fur-ball leaned back and despite being drowned in fur, he actually pulled off a smug look. "HA! That's what you think! I would've caved their empty heads right in..."

His partner gave him a disapproving look. "You always do this Berani! You never think it out, in fact you're probably as empty-headed as those dumb rhinos."

"You think I'm stupid? At least I'VE got guts!"

"Oh ho! So now it comes out!"

Viper, Crane and Mantis stared the guards warily. Another conflict, and this time it had nothing to do with them- at least not yet it didn't. Viper got the sense that this was something that happened a lot between them. Mantis saw an opportunity and hopped on to end of Crane's bill. "Maybe we should go?" They nodded quickly, and began to back away. Once they had gotten far enough they took the nearest turn, then they moved fast.

It may have better if they hadn't bolted. They looked guilty now, but then they probably wouldn't ever see them again... so it couldn't have been all that bad. "I hope we don't run in into those guys again." Mantis said.

* * *

Tigress found herself a more secluded area of the deck, where no one would disturb her. She leaned wearily against the ship's rail. Her forearms were the only thing stopping from tipping over and falling into the water. Her head hung low as she had tried work out why she felt this way. There was no reason to feel these uncontrollably things, yet she did. And what about Tai Lung. His confessions... seemed genuine, but he was her enemy! Every moral lesson Shifu had taught her avouched that Tai Lung was evil. She had readily and strongly accepted it. But earlier Tai Lung told her such strange things, she just didn't know what think about them. She knew exactly what felt though. She couldn't control this new desire for him to- UGH! The more she tried to control it, the more it seemed to evade her, and grow. Where was her resolve... had she lost it?

"What's the matter with you?"

She perked up, and turned around. Nisa was there, watching her with concern. Why was she here...?

"How long have you been hiding there for?" She asked the snake.

Nisa seemed to shrug, but didn't offer her an answer. It really matter how long, because the point was that she didn't know Nisa was there. Had she fallen so low that she couldn't even mind her own surroundings?

Nisa smiled softly. "So what's up?"

Tigress straightened herself, and tried look as normal as possible. "What do you mean?"

"Well you're obviously not alright... Is it Tai Lung?"

Was it really that obvious... "No_—_ it's just... Why do think it's because of Tai Lung?"

"Well, I saw him follow you inside, and then five minutes later you came out looking all upset." She watched Nisa thoughtfully for moment. "And before that you pretty flustered. You know, a little after cannons had finished firing. And also... my Father told me about what had really been going on." Tigress felt a dread-filled chill run down her spine. "He said that you're Tai Lung's... captive?" Did she know? No, she quickly disregarded that she had a real inkling towards what was going on. She couldn't hide her anxiety; she could barely even hide the source of it... The next words that came out Nisa's mouth disturbed her a great deal. "Did he hurt you?"

Tigress blinked. "What?"

Nisa shook her head. "It's just! You came out looking distraught, and I was worried."

Tigress couldn't help but feel touched by her concern, but it was totally unnecessary. "No, it's nothing like that."

Nisa gave her a confused look. "Did he say anything horrible?"

Tigress' eyes widened. "N-no! Well... No, he didn't." Tigress sighed. "He did nothing, nor say anything horrible to me." She frowned at her own words. He hadn't treated with any contempt, or ill-will at all... but still- admitting to it brought along the resignation of what she needed to acknowledge. He had been overbearing, vexing, and pretentious... the list went on. But Tai Lung had not been cruel. Not really. None of this changed the fact that he was her enemy! But so far as a prisoner's treatment usually went, she had it easy. She didn't like these thoughts... or where they leading.

"Then why did-" Tigress cut her off.

"Tai Lung has been fine... Just forget it." Nisa didn't seem ready to let it go yet, so Tigress attempted to steer onto another topic. "So your Father explained why we came here?"

Nisa was about to answer, but stopped when the incoherent rambling of some crewmen could be heard coming near to their direction. It quickly went quiet again. Nisa looked sour. "Yeah, he did. You know, it's ironic because I always knew he had something to hide, and never thought would it that was... me. I'll admit I'm pretty mad at him right now." She dropped her spiteful look and gave Tigress a small smile. "But I know why he did it so I'll have to forgive him sometime."

Tigress was surprised by her attitude, yet in good way. "I'm glad you're taking it so well."

Nisa smirked. "Well I've not really spent a lot of time thinking about that, to be honest. What I've really been wondering is where exactly I'll go first once we're back in Singapore!" Tigress swore she saw Nisa's eyes shine as started talking about it. "Maybe I'll go and the Botanic Gardens- Or even the town! In fact, why not both?" Nisa laughed. "What am I thinking... I'm probably going to have to do more convincing with my Father."

Tigress offered her the best smile she could give. "Perhaps it won't be so hard."

"I don't think it will be either way. If he needs some more talking over_—_then I'll just have to guilt trip him!" She said brightly.

Nisa joyfully chattered further at prospect of seeing different places, and Tigress gladly listened. She found that it was easier to keep a clear head as she allowed Nisa divert her attention on to other less... emotionally exhausting things... for however long it would last.

* * *

AH! No Tai Lung is this chapter? AH!

No worries. He will be back, obviously.

**Chinese**

Qiáo - Bridge

**Malaysian Translation**

Berani - Bold

Dinding - Wall


	13. Chapter 13

**Ailurophile**

_Author note:_ _Hello, everyone! As usual it's been a while. It's too bad, because there not a lot I can do about it. I don't want to get gloomy on you all, but I'm feeling slightly guilty about it. I realise that I'm probably (ABSOLUTELY) - **ridiculously **slow with my updates, and a lot reviews resort to almost begging. It's my fault obviously. I'm just bad at managing my affairs. I will try harder, but what can you do ?_

_One other thing, when one of you brilliant people decides this story is worth a review, I'm never really sure about how to respond besides thanking you? I think to myself, should I message back..? What would I say...? You know, because I'm awkward like that. Yes. Even on the internet... It's not obvious because I've never literally spoke to any of you. If any of you want me to reply then you'll have to say so in the review, or you just PM me. Either of those will definitely get my attention. I realise a couple of you might have a question. If so, then don't be shy to ask! I probably have enough of that for the both of us.  
_

_Thank you for your reviews: **ciana tl, MercenaryCrime, Tigerlover, IntolerableAssumptions, awesome visitor, Kid Darkness, Babycakes22, embodimentxofxbadxluck, Kristjan Philip, Randomness, Proud2beMexican, Y, jennygirl1996, kadienewberg, shade7caos, Guest, Baby doll, Sek, Arashi Kazakama, pureblood123, Shadestream40, wolves, kuroneko.**_

* * *

**Advent**

**_Flashback -_** **_Over 1 year ago_**

_It was so cold. The weather didn't get much more Siberian than this._

_It was one of many reasons he wasn't sleeping. In this forsaken place the Gods would know that the knackered, fatigued Snow Leopard_―_so well concealed from the world__― was unable to find rest. It was even more maddening because his depleted state was only manifest from the huge Turtle Shell device that he was forced to wear on his back. Without it, all his problems would go away... That very thought reminded him that his premier... living conditions would never change because the Shell of his back would never go away._

_He was trapped in. Tai Lung was the only one who would ever know of his suffering. He didn't know whether falling asleep or staying awake was worse. If he stayed awake, he would only see this place, black and algid... and be forced to take everything else the lived here without any way of escape. If he closed his eyes, he only saw their faces, their empty gazes watching him... with accusation._

_Today was a different day. He somehow knew that the presence of his cage had changed._

_His suspicions were soon confirmed._

_Regardless of the sheer size of his cage, he could still hear the Warden's roaring echo from up high, and because of the ambient stillness, he even just about managed to make out a few of the Warden's words; at least he thought he had. Though he was not able to express it, he was somewhat baffled with what he was hearing. 'Double the guard? Inadequate security? 'What...' Tai Lung might have scoffed, if he could. Why on earth was such an act be necessary? Then he began to wonder... Did... did something... happen? He had no idea what was going on... But he damn well wished he did. New Gossip, it was gift... This place was usually as quiet as death, well most days at least._

_'Escape from Chor-Gom Prison- Is Impossible!'_

_Whichever way he... approached the situation... Tai Lung was going nowhere, and he'd likely find out what the commotion was at some point... Perhaps when his torment recommenced. Vachir would probably taunt him during session. While doing so, maybe give him an idea of what provoked such a response from the Rhino. Vachir did like to talk._

_He distinctly heard the Rhino's throaty laughter... He had come further down. This made it much easier for him to listen. 'One Thousand Guards, and One Prisoner!' A weaker voice replied. He mentioned his name on a whimper. A new scent reached him._

_He heard the Lift platform's chain, and again Vachir's laughter._

_With a little more focus he thought he heard distressed whining. Because of the sharp Chain ringing slowly getting loudly, it became immediately clear._

_He was coming down..._

_Normally Tai Lung would have... dreaded this. He let out a breath. There was only one reason why the Warden ever came to see him, and it wasn't to keep him company. But this time Tai Lung was not so uneased. Although the feeling was certainly there, he was more curious because Vachir was with someone, and Tai Lung genuinely wished to know who had come to his home. Any new distraction was a good thing. He took a small breath. After twenty years in this place, he tried make good of any kind of situation... He knew the result of too many trepid thoughts. He would not fall into that trap again. Never. It was no option._

_He heard the Cogs creak and turn, and felt the Drawbridge as it finally touched down on his level. He felt eyes on him._

_"Behold, Tai Lung."_

_There was pause, then a shaky voice spoke. "I'll, umm- I'm just gonna wait right here."_

_Vachir chuckled. "There's nothing to worry about. It's perfectly safe," he placated mockingly, and then he smacked the fellow forward._

_They proceeded towards him. "CROSSBOWS, AT THE READY!" Vachir yelled._

_"Crossbows?" The small voice said apprehensively. He must have been the new scent Tai Lung had picked up. Now that the Vachir and... whomever this person was were right in front of him, his perception of them was now at its strongest._

_Vachir strode towards him without fear. "Hey, tough-guy! Did you hear? Oogway's finally gonna give someone the Dragon Scroll, and it's NOT gonna be you."_

_"What are you doing? Don't get him mad!" the goose practically squealed._

_"What's he gonna do about it? I've got him completely immobilised," he drawled. Suddenly, Tai Lung felt his instincts prickle. They told him to react, they begged him to move, but he do could nothing. Vachir lifted his foot- and hammered it down. The goose whimpered, and Vachir barked in laughter._

_"..."_

_All three of them knew that it would be painful, no matter who you were, yet he did not so much as flinch. Vachir wasn't bothered- right now- at all by the lack of response; the Rhino had become use to it. He moved his head right next to Tai Lung's. "Oh, did I step the widdle kitty's tail? Aw..." Only Vachir and Tai Lung were aware that crushing his tail was the least he could do... And Tai Lung could sense the silent message Vachir sent him. The Warden would come to see him later... The Snow leopard seethed inwardly. This was what he had been reduced to... nothing! He had it made profusely clear to him that he was worthless, and was left alive only... for this._

_The goose broke, and laughed tensely. "I'M GOOD! I've seen enough! Am gonna tell Shifu he's got nothing to worry about." The goose turned, and quickly set off._

_"No, he doesn't." Vachir affirmed._

_"Ok, I'll tell him that..." Vachir snorted. "Can we please go now?"_

_How he wished tear the Warden apart. So much... That bastard, whose cruelty perhaps exceeded any pain Tai lung had subjected to a single person. He felt his rage build up... It was irrepressible... All control slipped. 'I'LL KILL HIM! ONE DAY-'_

_-It had been small, virtually undetectable. Yet Tai Lung had felt it._

_Wrathful eyes opened... and looked down._

* * *

He mumbled unintelligible words to himself and brought his paws to his face to rub away the lassitude, at least as much as he was able to. Tai Lung blinked rapidly. His sleep had not been reinvigorating. He was probably worse off than he was before he closed his eyes. The cycle continues, he hardly gets a few hours in, and ends ups waking up feeling like crushed stones. It had been odd, to dream of his _last _day in prison. He usually experienced the earlier years of his incarceration.

He opened his eyes fully, and remained idle on the bed for the moment... '_NO!_ _I've made the mistake_... of ever letting you touch me!' Tai Lung frowned; he felt his chest rumble, and the inevitable growl that escaped his throat. He leaned up quickly, all his fatigue vanished. His eyes darted around the room in search of her, but she was elsewhere... He had almost expected her to next him_—_almost. Where she had gone? He glanced at the window, it was morning. He didn't want to admit it, but perhaps her words had affected him.

Their head-to-head was still raw on him.

He wanted to find her. Even having no idea what to say, he felt that he needed to somehow clear things up.

He got off his bed and started for the door 'You're a monster.' He stopped.

The snow Leopard felt oddly... disheartened. The next time she spoke to him, would she say something like that again? He could hear her repeat the tirade in his head. The sound of it left him feeling ill, he did not like it. She wanted nothing to do with him. So what was he supposed to do? Not so many hours ago he actually played with the idea of releasing her, then he let the thought sink in, and found himself stunned by hesitance. He... wasn't going to let her leave.

This only brought him back to square one with her. She knew what he wanted, he'd certainly made it clear, but he knew she wanted it too... and yet she would still loath him no matter what

After yesterday, he knew she would resist if her attempted to persuade her.

He frowned. He wasn't sure what to do. On one hand he had never felt so weak, yet on the other he truly wished she would throw down her reservations... Because she was driving him mad. He couldn't think straight with this woman.

Tai Lung refocused, and continued on. For now he would take each situation as it comes, and try not to get to drawn into thoughts of Tigress... It would only vex him further. There was no other way of going about it.

He pushed through the paired doors of his cabin, not passing a single glance around to outer room, and went straight on deck. He opened the door to be greeted by a momentary wave of sunlight. His eyes adjusted, and he saw most of the crew working mindedly.

Hong came to his side the moment he saw him. Tai Lung looked at him in acknowledgement, but said nothing. For most of his life Hong had always spent more time watching than talking, and he would not be boasting to say he had gained good observational skills. He doubted that it down to such skills that he noticed how deep Tai Lung was snared in his brooding thoughts. As rare as it was, it was Hong who decide to break their mutual silence. "You're feeling well?" Hong asked somewhat prudently.

"Never better," Tai Lung replied darkly.

Hong knew that tone. Tai Lung had used it enough times for it to be noticed, and recognised it as the 'calm before the storm.' The crew were soon likely to suffer in some shape or form. He'd have to make sure that the ship physician was prepared.

"What is our estimated time of arrival?"

Hong scratched his knuckles. "We should see port in less an hour, I think."

Tai Lung grumbled. "You think."

The Snow Leopard shifted on his paws, and spoke quietly, maybe even a little wearily. But there was a certain pressure behind his words. "Tell me, Hong. Be honest. Do you think I made the right choice?"

Hong could only guess on what the Kung Fu Master was referring to, and he honestly didn't know where to start. "What... do you mean?"

Tai Lung didn't move, or reply right away. Hong considered giving an answer of some kind, but Tai Lung saved him by finally opening his mouth. "I could have beaten them all... you know that. It was within my power. If the Dragon Warrior and his comrades were so easily defeated, then don't you think that we should have finished the job?"

Hong felt that his next words would somehow have an effect on future, but he was unsure of where this going. He decided to try and gauge Tai Lung and not give much of reaction. "Perhaps," Hong said nonchalantly.

Tai Lung turned to face Hong with a sunken disappointment, yet somehow intense. "Yes, perhaps. Really, Hong? You have nothing you want to say to me? Did I not monumentally fail to deliver as the others believed?"

Hong finally began to understand where this was going. He did have an opinion. Although he wondered how Tai Lung would take it. He didn't enjoy talking about his drunken decent in to despair, but... " Would you believe me if I said I really didn't care? Before I was privy to any plans of revenge or invasion, I was wasting my life, and it was you who came to me and gave me a something to focus on. I am grateful for this. I do not like Shifu, but it wasn't why I originally joined you." The words were not well practiced, but Hong watched as Tai Lung gave away a flicker of admiration, whether he wanted Hong to see it or not. This showed him that perhaps Tai Lung appreciated the earnestness of what he said.

Tai Lung shook his head. "You forget that I only sought you out as means to taking over the Valley."

Hong Shrugged. "It never made a difference to me."

A small flicker of satisfaction appeared on Tai Lung's face, but it quickly fell away. "I see."

Hong shook himself back to his usually demeanour, and repeat his first words. "You are sure you're feeling well?"

Tai Lung nodded then walked off, leaving Hong watching his back warily.

* * *

Tigress sat crossed-legged beside her newest friend. Before the night had ended, Tigress had reluctantly asked if she would be able to stay with her for the night. _Reluctantly_, because she knew deep down she was acting from a place of weakness in making the request. Whether Nisa had noticed the hidden strain behind her asking she doubted, but was grateful that Nisa happily agreed without any questions. It was obvious she wanted to probe her... She didn't blame her; in fact she was surprised Nisa had managed to keep her mouth shut. She knew it wouldn't stay bottled forever. When the morning had arrived, in the wake of rather unrestful sleep, she stared at Nisa as she seemed to fidget on the spot and look around unsubtly. Then finally...

"Ssooo..." Nisa said awkwardly.

Tigress felt the ends of lips quirk, as she couldn't help but see a resemblance between her and father, especially as she drew out a word.

"Go ahead then, you've been itching to since yesterday," Tigress groaned.

Nisa flushed. "Sorry, but you've been really edgy up till now. You seem better... so I thought it might be okay to ask why you've really been avoiding Tai Lung."

Tigress had expected a response like this and couldn't help rolling her eyes. "You are aware that I'm still a prisoner on this ship. He abducted me, It's not as though we're on good terms," she scolded.

"Yeah, but you also said he hasn't done anything wrong to you. So even though that's the case how come you decided to stay below deck with me instead of in his felicitous cabin with him?" Nisa retorted.

Tigress adopted a careless expression. "I just needed to get away from him for a little bit. Surely you understand that, what with you living under similar circumstances."

She didn't seem totally convinced. Nisa only to stared at her. Then suddenly, Nisa frowned, and for a moment Tigress thought she might have said something wrong. "Okay." Nisa's tone seemed to hint that she didn't appreciate the comment, but at least she didn't look as eager to question her. Tigress sighed at her impending guilt. Perhaps she could have worded it more considerately. As it was... she had almost no one to consider friendly company on this ship, and it probably didn't help for her to push away what possible allies she had by offending them...

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," she said sincerely.

Nisa's stare lingered slightly, but soften at that. "It's okay."

Tigress smiled. "I think I'm hungry now, how about you?"

"Yeah, alright," Nisa agreed joyfully. And it was forgotten.

Tigress pushed herself off the bed and led Nisa to the galley. She sighed in relief in knowing that Nisa couldn't see her face. She was glad that she'd managed to clear that up so easily, but perhaps not everyone was as nice as Nisa was. Maybe she needed to work on her social skills...

She walked through the wide foyer leading up to the main deck. Ignoring all the surrounding hammocks bearing... loudly sleeping crewmen, she proceeded up the lambent stairs. She heard Nisa giggle but didn't bother to ask what she found funny. If Nisa wanted to tell her then she would. "You'd think that men lead by Tai Lung would be a little more fearsome," Nisa said humorously. Tigress smiled in agreement. Oddly, there weren't nearly as many intimidating men as she initially thought had been when she first arrived. In fact a lot the types she were most wary of were nowhere to be seen, almost like they were gone?

The galley was the cabin directly across from Tai Lung's. When Tigress emerged she kept her eyes down for a short moment then snapped her head around giving the deck a quick scan. She felt elated when she didn't see him anywhere.

"Who are you looking for?"

Tigress turned to Nisa. "No one," she said shaking her head.

Like before Nisa didn't really look convinced. Tigress frowned but she didn't push it.

Instead she ignored her, and led on.

She knew the chance of an unwanted encounter was high. His cabin was attached to the galley so it was probably―and unfortunately―unavoidable. She'd almost reached the door when she noticed Hong standing right by it. She eyed him as she walked, and after moment's hesitation she gave him a nod. She couldn't tell whether he was surprised or offended by the gesture, but to clarify acknowledgement, in return he offered the slightest dip of his head.

That was surprising.

The cabin door flew open making her jump. But it was only members the crew acting raucous. They were laughing with each other, completely ignoring her. She suddenly felt irritated, and made a promise that she wouldn't let herself be influenced by her grievance with Tai Lung―at least when she wasn't around him. She flicked her eyes once more to Hong, he seemed to regard her curiously, but she pretended not to notice and walked through.

With Nisa behind her she walked to where she knew the dishes would be. She took a big one, and opted to fill it with whatever she could find while Nisa took a seat near to her.

"Good morning my star," she heard Raja say pleasantly from behind her.

"Good morning, Father," Nisa answered nonchalantly.

Tigress smirked as she could practically feel Raja sink. "So, Tigress, how has your stay with Tai Lung been so far?" Raja questioned after noticing her.

Tigress snorted in distaste. "I'm sure you and Tai Lung have already had a chummy discussion of just how much he's seen to my enjoying this _vacation_," she said sarcastically.

She heard him let out an awkward chuckle. She assumed he was thrown off by her comment. "Yes, a little. But Tai Lung rarely speaks to me of anything he would deem unrelated to business."

She'd bet that was a lie... "I've never been to anywhere beyond China in my life till recently. I suppose that one merit is that I can finally say that I've been able do so."

Raja nodded in agreement. "Certainly, it's an admirable feat in these times. I myself have been to many parts of Asia, but I did spend great deal of my life in China."

Tigress' eyes went wide. She might have known he'd been to China, but what Raja implied was that he'd lived there at a time. "You lived in China?" She failed to keep the shock from her voice. Before he could answer her she added to the question. "Which province?" She turned to look at him.

"Hubei," he answered.

She processed this for a moment. Now, a whole range of possibilities were running through her mind. She wanted to ask questions. One of the first being just how long had Raja and Tai Lung actually known each other, and just how deeply were affiliated when he'd lived there... _If_ he'd known Tai Lung so long ago then why hadn't she heard of him? She knew practically all the stories ever made about Tai Lung.

Raja grinned widely. "Curiouser and curiouser, is it not?"

"I'm sorry father, but what's _curiouser_," Nisa asked, dryly interrupting.

Raja turned to her warily. "Oh, nothing darling. I was just trying to be cryptic―"

"Whatever," she muttered.

Raja cleared his throat nervously. Now it was Tigress' turn to grin. It seemed that Nisa was staying true to her statement on not letting off her father easily. She guiltily took pleasure in witnessing his discomfort. It was about time someone else suffered. She found herself snickering. Ha, it felt good to be the audience for once.

"Is something amusing?" Raja asked tonelessly, but she could see his smile.

She shrugged. "Just a thought."

"Hn, do share?"

She was grateful that her nerves had settled, because if they hadn't she knew wouldn't have been able to stop herself from shivering. She turned to him. This was it. She had to prove to herself that she could face him without faltering. So, pushing hard, she answered him. "Tai Lung," she greeted, and she even managed a small nod. 'That was awful'... She would have slapped herself for such pitiful reaction―if it had been anyone else, but not him. Especially when he gave her that odd look. In fact she felt an ounce of triumphant seeing the subtle change on his face.

Tai Lung raised a brow, perplexed. He didn't expect a _greeting_. Actually he was prepared for hostility, so this courtesy had confused him... It didn't take genius to know it was forced. She even nodded. What was her game...

Then she did something that should have been completely harmless, but he wasn't fooled. She turned away and continued to load food for herself, as if she were totally unconcerned with his presence. If she was putting it up then it was very good acting. He found this highly amusing, and suddenly desired to see just how long she'd keep it up.

"Did you sleep well last night?" He asked, humouring this strange behaviour for the moment.

She hesitated to answer, but acted as though she wasn't paying attention. "...Yes, actually it was the most rest I've gotten in days," she answered... normally.

"I hope so. Rest is what you need for your injury efficiently heal," he informed her seriously.

Tigress kept her head down. "Then it's all the better. I'm always able to sleep well, _alone."_

He smiled at her, but she didn't feel it. "I'm glad to know you are restored."

She didn't know if he meant that... but it sounded like he did.

Tai Lung turned his attention to Raja. "We need to discuss what you owe me," he told the snake.

Raja raised himself and turned to Nisa. "We should be home very shortly. I will see you soon, daughter." He smiled at Tigress. "I thank you for keeping an eye of her, master Tigress," he bowed.

Tai Lung watched her return Raja's bow sincerely and move closer to Nisa, the two began to converse amongst themselves. She didn't even spare him a glance... not that it annoyed him or anything. He allowed Raja to lead him outside where they could discuss things privately.

"What was that all about? And _when_ were you injured?" Tigress took the vacated seat beside Nisa and placed the plate between them. She began to eat. She could feel eyes on her. She glanced up. Nisa loomed at her. She couldn't be bothered with this. Clearly not a word was missed, and she wanted an explanation.

Tigress huffed.

* * *

It had been midday when they arrived. Tai Lung's ship had been docked for few hours, and most of the crew had been at work loading up the newly acquired stock. Besides any crewmen working for Tai Lung, there were a few others around going about their own business. One particularly small individual had decided it would be a good idea to go out for a stroll, to pass the time. With half eaten Apple clutched in his paw, Xiaodan walked along the docks after running out of ways to entertain himself aboard the ship. He had fun sitting crates whilst they were being carried, but all the big ones had been brought up so he thought since the Captain was going to be here for here a while he would have to find something to do.

He couldn't think of anything... so he just ended up walking.

He was suddenly walking through a big crowd of people, and then he knew what he could do! He smirked as he made a new game of running and ducking under the legs of anyone he could fit under.

He liked to imagine he was the Captain when he would beat someone up in his awesome, cool way. Xiaodan smiled broadly and began to picture the battle in his head. He got caught up in his imagination as zipped by all the people, he hopped and ducked mirthfully. Maybe one day he would be like Tai Lung and fight dumb people, maybe he would be like Tigress because she fought dumb people too.

He slowed down, ending his make-believe battle.

He turned around and noticed far away he'd gotten from the ship. He knew that the Captain wouldn't like him wandering far- but he didn't know so it would be okay. Xiaodan started to walk back. He took bite from his apple, and as he did so he didn't noticed the imminent collision, then it hit him.

The sudden impact was hard and made him grunt. He was sent sprawling backwards. "Watch it, runt." Xiaodan groaned in pain.

He looked up at the one who bashed him. A Rhino had hit him, and Xiaodan knew he obviously didn't care because he was already walking away, not caring at all! Xiaodan frowned; he wasn't a runt, and the Rhino very ugly... He got up slowly, but realised that something was different, but what... He gasped. His hat was gone! He looked around wildly and saw it had been sent into the water. It was floating away... He quickly crouched over edge of the drop off, but he couldn't reach it. This was the worst thing ever! He didn't _know_ how to swim.

He watched helplessly as his most valued possession move further and further from his reach.

What could he do? He felt his lip quiver.

He clenched his eyes shut until his dejection gave way to anger, then he turned back to the Rhino who had gotten quite far away now. Xiaodan growled at the ugly man... He looked in hand. He looked back at the Rhino. Just thinking about it made him feel better... His mind was made up. He brought his arm back, aimed, and with all his might he threw his apple.

It met its target- and splattered. The back of the Ugly's head was now dripping. Xiaodan grinned while a few on-lookers laughed at the Rhino.

The Ugly turned, _angry_, and Xiaodan's grin vanished. He looked mad. "Uh oh...!"

The large man stalked toward Xiaodan. He forced people aside as he drew closer. Xiaodan weighed his options and looked around, but everywhere was crowded. He looked back at him and saw an opportunity. Xiaodan ran towards the Rhino with a scowl as though he wished to meet him with his aggressive intentions. As he got closer he felt a wave fear, he could see the man's face better now. It wasn't nice to look at... The Rhino leaned down to grab him, but Xiaodan ducked fast and managed to evade him between the legs.

Xiaodan thought he succeeded in his escape, but a gust of air blasted him and he felt a grip around his shirt. Suddenly he was lifted off his feet and brought face to face with a very scary looking Rhino.

The Rhino sneered, and huff foul air made Xiaodan nose wrinkle as the Rhino opened his mouth. "... I bet you thought that was clever, runt. Sadly for you, you picked the wrong guy to play games with." Xiaodan went still. "But seein' as I'm a generous guy I'll educate you on a little common sense... so that you know not do something as stupid as this _ever again_. Does sound reasonable...?" He began to tremble. The Rhino was waiting for him to say something, but he forgot how to talk...

The Rhino shook his head patronisingly. "What the matter...? Cat got your tongue? Aw..." The man began to chuckle at his own joke.

"HEY!"

The Rhino snapped his head towards the voice. He growled, and carelessly dropped the Lion cub. "What do you want, Panda?"

"I saw what you were doing, Vachir! Pickin' on a kid! That's pretty low," he said shaking his head. "We might be on the same team, but that doesn't mean we're gonna let you and your goons do what you want!" The Panda crossed his arms. "I gonna keep my eyes on you guys from here on in, so you you'd better stay out of trouble-"

The Rhino called Vachir started muttering to himself. "I don't need this..." With that he walked away completely ignoring the Panda.

"-you got that? ...HEY! Where you going?"

Po frowned at the Rhino's back. "He's got some serious issues," he said incredulously. He turned his eyes back to the Lion cub sat frozen on the ground. It ticked him off that no-one had courage to interfere. But looking at the shady crowd near this harbour he wasn't really surprised that they didn't care. He crouched in front of him. "Hey, little guy, you okay?" The cub didn't answer, he kept his eyes on where Vachir had headed. "Don't worry, that jerk is gone, and even if he was still here I wouldn't let him hurt you." The cub looked at him finally. Po smiled, and offered him a hand.

Xiaodan's wide eyes scanned the Panda distrustfully. He looked familiar somehow... but his heart was moving too fast for him to think. He looked at the Panda's paw, he did just make that... man go away. Hesitantly, he went to take the Panda's hand.

Po lifted the cub to his feet. "There ya go! See, no danger." He looked around. "Say... I don't wanna pry, but what's a little kid like you doing in a place like this?" For a second he didn't think the cub would respond. Until he saw the little lion's ears flatten, and fear be taken over by wouldn't anger. Po wouldn't forget what happened next any time soon...

"No..." Xiaodan growled. He shook his head, "I'm not a little kid. YOUR JUST...!?" Po stared at the Lion cub as he seemed to search for the right word. The lion cub brightened. "FAT!" Po blinked, was it something he said? The cub trembled. His voice cracked. "FAT! FAT! FAT!" And with that the little cub ran away.

Po gawked. "What?" The Dragon Warrior processed what just happened. The kid was probably going home now, so... He sighed, and trudged back the way he came. He walked to the edge of the harbour and looked at his reflection in the water. He wasn't any bigger than the last time he'd looked, if anything he was wasn't as big... Po frowned, eying something tall floating in water. Was that a hat?

* * *

He sighed appreciatively, this was what he needed. The warmth and spice of tea invaded his senses as he sipped. It was welcoming. He was both soothed and sobered. He leaned back in his seat, and peered at Raja. Though it was obvious that Raja wasn't enjoying the tea at the same level as he, one could tell that the Snake relished in it too.

"I'm pleased," Raja said mildly. "Despite the losses, I feel that things have turned out well for us. Wouldn't you agree?" He asked.

Tai Lung smirked "For you, certainly. For me, well, I will only say that I've at least got what I came for. So I won't be leaving unsatisfied."

Raja gave a look concern. "You intend to leave soon." It was not in question.

The snow Leopard put down his cup and placed his hands on the Chair's rests. He wasn't sure if it was the tea, but he didn't feel wary of the subject he was about to share with his friend. "I do, and to be honest, I don't think I'll ever return... I will not just leave here, but China as well. It's why I came here, Raja. This visit is merely the pit-stop for my next destination... It is time for me to abandon past, and that includes leaving behind everywhere it has taken place."

Raja stared in awe, not fully comprehending this yet. "This... is why your here?"

Tai Lung shrugged. "Yes."

Raja seemed to sink in his seat "And I thought you only cared about was your revenge. So then... why the change of heart?"

Tai Lung chuckled. "Don't get the wrong idea; I am still the same selfish bastard I've always been. But some things have changed. I was ready, and eager to return and take what I always thought was mine, yet one day I opened my eyes, and saw myself. You know what I saw? I saw someone who had thrown away, _wasted_ the Lion's share of his life... " Tai Lung seemed to struggle with himself briefly "-and all of it by choice. I must leave, while I still can." He stared intently at Raja, he hasn't spoken of this to anyone. "Do you see? I need to leave. I _need_ to find some... peace. Even if I know I don't deserve it."

If Raja looked astonished before, then his expression now was one of total disbelief. "Where would you go?"

Tai Lung looked thoughtful. "First I will go west, to India, then further."

The Snow leopard had done a lot of profound thinking, that was obvious... and THIS had been the conclusion? Tai Lung may have said he was the still the same man, but the Tai Lung that had been set on taking the Dragon Scroll would never have given up on revenge. Clearly _something_ had changed. He didn't know what to say, the man on front of him had never really opened up to this extent. He was a little worried to ask, but he asked anyway. "This doesn't have anything to do with you making off with Master Tigress... Does it?"

Tai Lung narrowed his eyes. "No, this was before her."

Raja shook himself, and took a long sip of his tea. "Finding peace for one's self is a worthy goal," he muttered. "Well, all I will say to you then... is that I can respect your reasons, and hope you find what you truly seek."

Tai Lung smiled.

* * *

Tigress watched the port from where she sat, hazardously, on the ship's rail. She looked at all those ignorant people; not a single one knew who she was, what she'd done in service to her people, or her predicament.

She contemplated jumping down and just getting lost in the city. No doubt Tai Lung would find her and bring her straight back here. Yes, she didn't want to think about how his reaction. She had seen his anger before, even had directed at her, but what made it worse was his fixation on her. The combination of those two things would most certainly be a lethal force. This was why, until she knew without a single doubt that she could escape, she would stay put.

Her conversation with Nisa had been... unusual. When she'd told the story, Nisa had... expressed her sadness. Not only through a somewhat awkward embrace, but she had been apologetic. At first she had no idea why, then Nisa explained that she was the one to blame since it was all her that the foreigners had come for. Which, of course, Tigress had told her was ridiculous. They may have come because of her, but it was _not_ Nisa's fault. Besides, the only one to blame for _her_ wounds was her. She simply hadn't paid attention.

She looked up at the sun, and sighed. She wondered if the Five―and even Po were having a rough time without her... She really hoped that Master Shifu hadn't burnt them to badly when they had returned to the valley. She was probably going to have to get things back in order when she returned. Her stomach dropped, when would she see them again? Escape. It may be some time before her chance came, perhaps years...

During her downhearted thoughts she almost missed the tapping of little paws move over the gangplank, and right by her. She spared a glance over her shoulder. She frowned. Without hesitation, she twisted round and jumped off the rail.

She didn't know what had happened, but she followed Xiaodan to where he looked to seclude himself. "Xiaodan?"

The cub in question stiffened, but didn't turn to look at her. "What?" He asked quietly.

Tigress tried to peer over and see Xiaodan's face. "Are you alright?"

He hunched his shoulders. "Mmhm." He replied even more quietly.

She put her hands on her knees, and knelt down slightly. "Xiaodan," She said softly.

Something... warm about the way she'd said his name made Xiaodan turn. He faced her.

* * *

I love suspense. I love making the moments. Review, and tell me what you think.


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